12. Old Market House

just west of War Memorial Building, in the middle of King Street. This area served as a market space beginning in the mid 1700s. The town built the market house in 1800, placing the whipping post and public hog pen on the south end. Offenders of town ordinances suffered public punishment. Hogs running loose could be seized for public auction. In 1845 the International Order of Odd Fellows added the second story in exchange for a 999-year lease. After the town market closed in 1854, the town enclosed the stalls with brick exterior walls, and the building became a firehouse. It also served from time to time as council chambers, private school, and meat market. In 1926, the Shepherdstown Women’s Club obtained permission to use the building as a library, sharing the premises for some years with the town jail. The Shepherdstown Library, Inc. had the Odd Fellows’ 999 year lease voided in 1962. A unique characteristic of the building remains the Odd Fellows’ symbol of the Seeing Eye, peering at passersby from a semi-circular niche above the front door. Some say the eye moves.