Before the Bridge: The Melbourne Ferry

Before the bridge — the Melbourne ferry: The original Melbourne Causeway's story begins, like all the lagoon crossings, with a ferry. The crossing at Melbourne: Melbourne, on the mainland (west) side of the lagoon, faced the barrier island to the east. From the earliest days, there was a need to cross — to reach the beach, to move livestock, to get to the island's resources. The ferry: A small flatboat ferry operated at the Melbourne crossing. It carried people, wagons, and (later) early automobiles across the lagoon. The ferry was hand- or horse-operated in its earliest form, and later motorized. It was the only way to cross at Melbourne. What it was like: The ferry was slow and limited. You waited for it. It could carry only a few wagons or cars at a time. In bad weather, or when the ferryman was away, you couldn't cross at all. The ferry set the rhythm of cross-lagoon travel — you went when the ferry was running, not when you wanted to. The community: The ferry landing was a little hub — a dock, maybe a small store, and a place where people gathered to wait and to gossip. The ferryman was a known local figure. The ferry was part of the fabric of old Melbourne. The limits: As Melbourne and the beachside grew, the ferry became a bottleneck. More people, more wagons, more cars — and the little ferry couldn't keep up. The demand for a real bridge grew. The ferry era at Melbourne lasted until the first bridge was built — the first step toward the modern causeway. The ferry is the forgotten origin of the Melbourne Causeway. When you drive across the high modern bridge, you're crossing the same stretch of water that little ferry used to churn across.