Heinsburg Ferry (1914 ‑ 1963)
A ferry was installed to serve the Heinsburg district, the year after John Heins established a post office for the growing community east of Elk Point. The service was used extensively in the spring to transport cattle herds to their ranges and all other users to move grain, cream and agricultural supplies. Just two years after it started operating the ferry broke loose and was swept downstream a with the ferryman's wife onboard. As it drifted past Lee Park, ten miles to the east, the anxious wife is said to have shouted to the ferryman there, "Never mind the ferry, save me!" The craft was subsequently abandoned, and a new ferry had to be built in Edmonton and floated to Heinsburg the following year.
An indication of how important the crossing could be to travelers was demonstrated by an incident that occurred in 1918. A car bearing four passengers arrived at the site, before the ice was sufficiently thick to bear its weight. The group had to drive more than 100 miles to North Battleford to reach the nearest bridge -a detour at the time that took more than a week! By 1929, the crossing was sufficiently busy to be give it Class A status, holiday and weekends seeing especially long lines as residents south of the river liked to picnic at nearby Whitney Lake.
Sadly, the crossing saw a number of drownings over the years, including a young boy who tell from the south landing in the early forties, and two young girls who met a similar fate in 1943 when the car they were traveling in rolled off the ferry and sank in about twelve feet of water.
Just as in Elk Point, a pulley‑drawn platform that initially provided shuttle service in the shoulder seasons, was eventually replaced by a crossing "cage" powered by a motor and clutch. In its second last year of operation before being retired due to the completion of the Heinsburg bridge, the ferry was providing twenty four hour service between 25 April and 9 November.
