Ford or bridge
Water
private ferry from about 1821; state franchise 1837
City of Atlanta
General area only

Montgomery's Ferry

James McC. Montgomery's ferry at Standing Peachtree, franchised by the state on December 25, 1837. It was the only traffic crossing on the main Atlanta-Marietta road until 1872, except in 1864-65 when the boats disappeared.

See it on the map All Water records

The record

Montgomery, a War of 1812 veteran who served at Fort Peachtree, settled here about 1821 with land on both sides of the river, the west bank then still in the Cherokee Nation, and ran a private ferry before the franchise signed by his friend Gov. George Gilmer. The markers place the ferry where the Seaboard railroad bridge spans the river. After the war, refugees returning north had no way across until Thomas Moore and volunteers built an emergency flatboat in 72 hours. The crossing later became DeFoor's Ferry, and Montgomery Ferry Drive keeps the name.

Today: Chattahoochee riverbank near the Peachtree Creek mouth.