Year Erected: 1956
Image Credit: John Beach
Marker Text: James McConnell Montgomery acquired 1000 acres in this vicinity about 1821. Owning land on both sides of the Chattahoochee River, he operated a private ferry until granted a state franchise by Governor George Gilmer on, December 25, 1837. The ferry was located where the CSX Chattahoochee River Bridge now spans the river, and its name changed in 1853 to DeFoor's Ferry. From 1864-1865, during the Civil War, the ferryboats were removes, and the ferry stopped operating. Those returning to North Georgia and Tennessee following the war had no means of crossing until Thomas Moore and volunteers constructed an emergency flat. Once the ferry was reinstated, it remained the only traffic crossing on the main road from Atlanta to Marietta until 1872.
Re-erected by the Georgia Historical Society in 2026.
Tips for Finding This Marker: Off of Ridgewood Road at the Atlanta Waterworks pumping station on the Chattahoochee River in Atlanta.
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