Ingles Ferry

William Ingles established Ingles Ferry on the New River ca. 1762, on a site that had long been occupied by Native Americans. He and his wife, Mary Draper Ingles, resided on the river’s eastern side and operated a tavern and store on the western side. Migrants moving westward, coffles of enslaved African Americans, and well-known individuals such as future French king Louis-Philippe I used this crossing on the heavily traveled Great Road. Virginia native William Clark crossed here in Nov. 1809 on a journey from St. Louis with his wife and son to visit family, conduct business in Washington, D.C., and make plans for the publication of the Lewis and Clark Expedition journals.