Shepherdstown

Shepherdstown, the oldest town in what is now West Virginia, was incorporated as Mecklenburg in 1762 and renamed Shepherd's Town in 1798 in honor of its founder Thomas Shepherd. From the French and Indian War to the Civil War, it stood at the epicenter of American history. It was the jumping-off point for the Bee Line march, the first large contingent of southern volunteers to hike overland in record time to reinforce George Washington's fledgling Continental Army around Boston. The town also claims to be the birthplace of the steamboat through James Rumsey's invention of a self-propelled boat, which he demonstrated before residents in 1787. George Washington appointed Rumsey the first superintendent of the Potomac Company, formed in 1785 to build a bypass canal at the Great Falls of the Potomac. Although not directly involved in the 1862 battle of Antietam less than five miles away, Shepherdstown became an impromptu hospital for General Robert E. Lee's retreating Army of Northern Virginia. Today it is a vibrant college town on high bluffs overlooking the Potomac River, and the entire town is a historic district whose streets, parks, architecture, and colonial look reflect and preserve its past while supporting a cosmopolitan atmosphere.

Shepherdstown, West Virginia · United States