Magic

The Villa is a magical place, but not for the reason my son once thought.  

When he was little, he believed our home was on "Fairy Street," which made a lot more sense to him than the actual street name:  "Montgomery Ferry Drive."

Atlanta once depended on ferries, since it's located just east of the Chattahoochee River.  The ferries were named for the men who owned them.

Today the ferries are gone, but the names remain on the roads that once led to them.  The Villa sits on the road that ran from the city of Decatur to Major Montgomery's ferry.  Here's what history records:

   

After serving in the War of 1812, Major James McConnell Montgomery built Fort Peachtree in 1814 on a site that overlooks the Chattahoochee River.  Montgomery worked under the supervision of Colonel George Gilmer, who later became Governor. 

After leaving the army, Montgomery operated a flat raft ferry to cross the Chattahoochee River near Fort Peachtree.  It became known as Montgomery's Ferry. 

Early ferries charged on a sliding scale, from a man or horse (5 cents each) to a loaded wagon (a dollar for wagon, horse and driver).

By 1822, Montgomery owned more than 1000 acres of land that had been ceded by the Creek Indians a year earlier.  Because he thought it was such a beautiful area, he moved his family there and they became the first permanent white settlers in the region that was to become Atlanta. Montgomery built a house at the intersection of what is now Moores Mill Road and Bolton Road and continued to run the ferry.

Montgomery died in 1842.  In 1853, the ferry was taken over by Martin DeFoor and became known as DeFoor's Ferry.

Eventually the ferries were replaced by bridges.  Horses and wagons didn't travel along Montgomery Ferry Road to cross the river any more.

But maybe one night, if I sit quietly on the front steps of the building, I can catch a ghostly glimpse of the people who walked and rode here long before my family and I arrived.


Thanks to Ferries of Cobb County, DAR Fort Peachtree Chapter, Fort Peachtree - Buckhead, and Riverside: Atlanta's Upper West Side.