In 1775, Shepherdstown, formerly known as Mecklenburg, was asked to furnish one company of about 100 men to assist patriots fighting the British around Boston, and in July the company marched down German Street as the town cheered them off to war. In Mecklenburg, an express rider was ferried over the Potomac to the village market place, and in every settlement able-bodied men were formed into militia companies. The peaceful streets resounded to the music of fife, bag-pipe, and drum, and the parade ground was the vacant lot behind the old Entler Tavern on German Street, where the companies marched, paraded, and exercised from morning until night. In September 1786, James Rumsey, encouraged by George Washington, came to Shepherdstown to demonstrate his latest invention, the steamboat. He launched his 48-foot flat-bottomed boat from the ferry landing on Princess Street, operated the steam engine himself, and traveled about one quarter of a mile upstream at about 3 knots before turning back to a cheering crowd.
