Remember that time Dartmouthians got so fed up with the substandard ferry service, they charted their own course, and organized a committee to start their own ferry service?
A ferry service that became so popular, the previous operators were abandoned in favor of the people’s service? This group even organized a ferry boat buying expedition to New York, in order to purchase a boat “formerly on the Pennsylvania Annex running from Brooklyn to Jersey City”.
From The Story of Dartmouth, by John P. Martin:
“The struggle between the citizens and the Steamboat Company lasted about three months. In April 1890, legislation was obtained to organize the Dartmouth Ferry Commission. This body took over the liabilities of the Citizens’ Ferry Committee. Delegates were next sent to the United States to negotiate for the purchase of a secondhand ferryboat named the “Annex”. Meantime the small steamer “Arcadia” kept running in opposition to the Company, transporting people for two cents, and later for one cent. Nearly everyone boycotted the regular ferry. By midsummer the Steamboat Company felt obliged to capitulate. Then all the property of the 75-year-old Halifax and Dartmouth Steam Ferry Company was acquired by the new Dartmouth Ferry Commission. The makeshift landing and ticket booth at Campbell’s wharf were abandoned.”
