Spring Bank Ferry 1987

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Spring Bank Ferry 1987
Spring Bank Ferry 1987

The Spring Bank Ferry operated on the Red River connection Miller and Lafayette counties via state Highway 160. This ferry is recorded in history as being the oldest operating ferry in southwest Arkansas.
The first ferry was owned by an old pioneer man dressed in buckskin whose name is not known. The time period given is late 1820's to early 1830's. This barge operated slightly north of what is now known as the Blanton home place on an old section of Highway 160. A little over two miles east of the junction of Highway 71 and 160.
The second owner-operator of the ferry was listed as John Caffery. The time period given was 1834. The ferry boat was built from cypress logs and rough lumber. Sometime in the late 1830's John Caffery sold the ferry to Col. William Blanton. Records indicate that the Blanton family was issued permits to operate the ferry, however, no time frame or number of permits issued is known.
The Spring Bank Ferry was owned and operated for the next 125 years by six generations of the Blanton family until 1963 when the Arkansas Department of Transportation took over and put the state owned ferry in service in 1967. It was commissioned and licensed through the United States Coast Guard under Inland navigational rules of western rivers.
The state transportation department operated the Spring Bank Ferry from 1967 until it was replaced with the highway 160 bridge in 1995.

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Taken on: May 16, 2024
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