All Aboard in Fredericktown
Washington PA Observer Reporter
27 June 2010
By Scott Beveridge, Staff writer
sbeveridge@observer-reporter.com
FREDERICKTOWN - A bar helping to jump-start tourism in the
Fredericktown area gave pedestrians free rides Saturday on a historic
ferry boat on the verge of being forever dry-docked.
Bowers Brothers Lounge, situated on the ramp leading to Ferry Boat
Frederick, also hosted a festival Saturday in honor of the cable-driven
boat that might be rendered useless when a new bridge opens a short
distance down the Monongahela River.
"It's nice to promote this thing, and next year it's going to be a
save-the-ferry-boat thing," said John Bowers, who owns the bar with his
brother, Scott.
Ferry service has survived for two centuries in this area between
Washington and Fayette counties. The current steel vessel built in 1948
was put into operation there in 1973 in an agreement between the two
counties, with Fayette collecting tolls and paying pilots.
But, with construction of the nearby Mon-Fayette Expressway linking
Centerville with Uniontown, some believe the 35-ton boat won't survive
much longer.
"My understanding of nature and economics is that it's going to be a
relic of the past," Washington County Commissioner J. Bracken Burns has
said.
Regardless, a large crowd of people turned out Saturday for free ferry
rides across the 400-foot river channel to LaBelle and back to
Fredericktown.
John Bowers paid for the trips, as his contribution to a new initiative
to bring visitors to town.
Bowers participated in efforts to promote the Maxwell Basin Recreation
Area, which formed three weeks ago "to do something for the area," said
its founder, Dennis Slagel.
The basin stretches from Maxwell Locks and Dam near Brownsville upriver
to Point Marion. But, so far, representatives of the tourism group
include just people in Fredericktown and neighboring Millsboro, said
Slagel, 59, who owns Bee's Graphics in Fredericktown.
"The river is the asset," he said.
The group kicked off this summer season with Memorial Day services
followed by a rib fest at a local marina. It also will sponsor a
festival around the Fourth of July, complete with fireworks at dark
July 3.
"We're testing the water so far, and we'll build on what's to come,"
Slagel said.