Lynchburg Town Ferry
Lynchburg, Harris County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The Lynchburg Town Ferry, founded in 1822 by Nathaniel Lynch, crosses the Houston Ship Channel downstream of the confluence of the San Jacinto River and Buffalo Bayou. In 1829, the authorities at San Felipe de Austin requested that Lynch move his ferry service, which had been running from Crystal Bay, upstream to a peninsula formed by a meander of the San Jacinto River. He satisfied the requirements in 1830, moving to an area near the present landing. Lynch passed away in 1837, but his family continued to operate the ferry service until 1848. Between 1848 and 1888, various operators bought and ran the service. During this time, Lynchburg experienced many changes. A fire in 1874 and a series of storms dating from the late 1800s to the early 20th century devastated the town and hastened its decline. In 1888, Harris County purchased the ferry and in 1920 put the diesel-powered, cable-free Chester H. Bryan boat into service. They added the Tex Dreyfus in 1945. The two boats were replaced in 1964 by the William P. Hobby and the Ross S. Sterling, which have served the area for a number of years. By the 1950s, business returned to Lynchburg; a shipyard, marine service companies and the Coastal Water Authority all opened in following years. Today, the ferry continues to serve Harris County residents who work at the Port of Houston and at petrochemical plants along the ship channel. It remains an important economic contributor to the area, promoting tourism and helping to maintain Lynchburg as a focus of industry on the Houston Ship Channel. (2006)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Founded in 1822 by Nathaniel Lynch near the meeting of the San Jacinto River and Buffalo Bayou, the Lynchburg ferry is one of the oldest continuously operating crossings in Texas. Lynch's family ran it until 1848, after which a succession of operators guided it through fires and storms that hastened the town's decline, until Harris County bought the service in 1888. Motorized boats followed in the 20th century, and the ferry still shuttles workers across the Houston Ship Channel today.
Why it matters
A crossing older than Texas statehood, the Lynchburg ferry has carried travelers from the Republic era to the modern petrochemical Port of Houston without interruption.
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Related people
- · Nathaniel Lynch
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
One Mile Northeast to Site of Lynch's Ferry
La Porte, TX
Nathaniel Lynch, one of Austin's "Old Three Hundred," established a ferry in 1822 where Buffalo Bayou meets the San Jacinto River, charging a few cents to carry travelers and stock across. In the spring of 1836, as settlers fled the advancing Mexican army in the "Runaway Scrape," hundreds crossed here, the prairie thick with wagons and tents. Days later, at the nearby Battle of San Jacinto, Santa Anna — hoping to cut off the Texan retreat at this very ferry — was instead defeated, and a modern ferry still runs at the site today.
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Nathaniel Lynch, one of Stephen F. Austin's first colonists, established a ferry here before 1824 on land granted that August, and in 1830 the ayuntamiento of San Felipe gave him the exclusive right to operate it. Sitting where Buffalo Bayou meets the San Jacinto River, the crossing became a vital artery for the colonists of early Anglo Texas and lay near the ground where independence would be won in 1836. Still running today as the Lynchburg Ferry, it is among the oldest continuously operating crossings in the state.
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