Florida residents have been traversing the St. Johns here since 1856, when the ferry service was founded as a military operation for federal soldiers at the nearby Fort Gates during the Third Seminole War. The Confederate Army appropriated the vessel -- then powered by humans -- during the Civil War. The structure of Fort Gates on the river's west bank is long gone, but the ferry has continued in one form or another for 150 years. One of the last remaining water shuttles in Florida, the Fort Gates Ferry is an anachronism with lasting relevance, a reminder of the days before bridges proliferated and a service so essential to area residents thatPutnam County designates the half-mile crossing route a county highway.