Ste. Genevieve-Modoc Ferry Resumes Service

The Ste. Genevieve (Mo.)-Modoc Ferry, one of the oldest on the Mississippi River, resumed service on May 18 after a 14-month layup for hull repairs at JB Marine. It passed its five-year inspection and received its certificate of inspection in March.

From Illinois, the ferry provides direct access to the shops, restaurants and historic sites of French colonial Ste. Genevieve. From Ste. Genevieve, the ferry offers a quick route to the historic site of an early French fort, Fort de Chartres, and Fort Kaskaskia State Historic Parks, as well as other attractions in southern Illinois.

Ronnie Inman is president of Ste. Gen-Modoc Ferry Inc., which operates the ferry. He has also served as executive director of the New Bourbon Regional Port Authority in Perryville, Mo., which owns it, since 1983.

Demand has been at a record level, Inman said, and the ferry has been “super-busy,” he said.

“The farmers use it to move their heavy equipment across from Illinois to work their land in Missouri, and vice versa,” he said. The nearest bridge is the Chester Bridge south of the ferry, the only motor-traffic bridge between St. Louis and Cape Girardeau, Mo., but farmers need a permit for their heavy equipment across the bridge, which is also under repair.
The ferry is part of the National Hiking and Biking Trail and is popular with both bicyclists and motorcyclists, he said.

The current ferry was dedicated on September 12, 1991, by U.S. Reps. Richard Gephardt and Bill Emerson of Missouri.  Inman remembers that French marines were part of the ceremony.

Recently discovered archival records support the continuous existence of a ferry at the location since 1798, Inman said. “There wasn’t so much current in the river back then, so we don’t know if they poled across or what,” he said.