The Friends of the Shepherdstown Riverfront has disbanded as of Spring 2015. Much has been accomplished at the Mecklenberg Warehouse to stabilize and restore the building. The Corporation of Shepherdstown can now take the next steps to continue the upgrades and to find a suitable use for the building.
This website will no longer be updated or monitored. Historic materials concerning the Warehouse have been transferred to the Historic Shepherdstown Commission. Many people deserve credit for the work that has been accomplished at the Warehouse including: Jim and Ann Ludwig, Diana Suttenfield, Shep Scott, Richard Jentsch, Fran Cox, Davitt McAteer, Dale Walter, Bob Reynolds, Keith Alexander, Tom Conant, Mina Goodrich, Tyra Guyton, Meredith Wait, Linda Shea, Eddie Sampson, Alan Levitan, Amanda Whitmore, Steve Ayraud, Corporation of Shepherdstown staff and the many Shepherdstown area residents who donated money to the restoration of the building.
| April 9, 2015 |
51. James Rumsey Monument
at end of Mill St. Affords a panoramic view of the Potomac and the historic setting of Shepherdstown. Efforts of the Rumseian Society led to the construction and dedication of the monument as a state park in 1915 to commemorate Rumsey’s steamboat experiments. After the state stopped appropriations for the park in the 1960s, private efforts kept the park from deteriorating. In the mid 1990s, the town assumed maintenance.
52. Thomas Shepherd Gristmill
207 E High. A two story stone mill built c. 1738. About 1835, a wooden third story was added. Sometime in the 19th century, a huge overshot wheel of 12 tons and 40 feet in diameter was built, positioned some 200 feet north of the mill in the Town Run. A sluice, supported on trestles, carried water from the southeast corner of Princess and High streets and discharged it onto the top of the wheel. In 1905, the wheel was moved to its present location. The mill operated until 1941. The mill is privately owned and closed to the public.
53. Town Run Washhouse
Near NE corner of Princess and High Sts. Built over Town Run by the owners of the residence to the left for the purpose of washing clothes. From the 1920s to mid-1950s it was used as a residence.
54. Town Run Waterpower Area and Tobacco Warehouse
From the corner of Princess and High Sts, N Princess makes a steep descent to the Potomac. Town Run falls here through a steep ravine where once gristmills, sawmills, manufacturing mills and warehouses took advantage of the water’s power. The only building left is the tobacco warehouse, authorized by Virginia’s General Assembly in 1788. The large stone building perhaps replaced an earlier wooden structure c.1800.
55. Ferry Landing and Bridge Tollhouse
at the bottom of N Princess St. At the river’s edge, one stands at the border between West Virginia and Maryland. Here too is the former ferry landing, still in use as a boat ramp. The old piers in the river supported several bridges from 1849- 1936. The former bridge tollhouse, built in 1850, remains as a private residence.
56. Getzendanner's Corner
SE corner, Princess and High Sts. The site of Getzendanner’s mill in late 1790s, the current structure on the corner dates to 1920 and exemplifies the architectural style of service stations in the early automobile age. The front part has been enclosed and the pumps have been removed. The two houses abutting the former service station on High St. were associated with a cotton mill that operated on the site before the Civil War. In 1930, the service station added a miniature golf course on the south side of the property. The service station closed in the 1980s. Where cars formerly stopped for service, patrons now enjoy a restaurant.
57. Weltzheimer's Tavern
109-113 N Princess St. A combination brick and clapboard building. Here, according to local lore, in November, 1790, Nathaniel Willis published the Potowmak Guardian and Berkeley Advertiser, the first newspaper in what is now West Virginia. Willis had participated in the Boston Tea Party of 1773. Between 1795 and 1823 first Frederick Weltzheimer and then his widow Catherine operated a tavern here in the brick section and let rooms in the wooden section.
58. Little House and Miniature Farm
W side of Princess St. between German and High Sts. Built in1929 as a Shepherd College teacher training project largely through the efforts of education professor Florence Shaw. The farm includes a small limestone cottage in full detail, near the street. Behind the house and across Town Run is a miniature dairy barn. At one time the grounds included tiny gardens and fields. Here too, Town Run drops beneath Princess Street and descends towards the Potomac. Much loved by local children, the Little House is often opened for special events.
59. Chapline-Shenton House
101 N Princess St, adjacent to Yellow Brick Bank. Built in the late 1790s in the Federal style, this was the in-town residence and law office of the Hon. Thomas Van Swearingen, Esq. from 1817 until his death in 1822. He spent his summers at Bellevue, the family estate outside of town on Shepherd Grade Road. He represented this region in the Virginia Assembly from 1814 to 1816 and in the U.S. Congress from 1819 to 1822.
Goodbye – Friends of Shepherdstown Riverfront Disbanded
The Friends of the Shepherdstown Riverfront has disbanded as of Spring 2015. Much has been accomplished at the Mecklenberg Warehouse to stabilize and restore the building. The Corporation of Shepherdstown can now take the next steps to continue the upgrades and to find a suitable use for the building.
This website will no longer be updated or monitored. Historic materials concerning the Warehouse have been transferred to the Historic Shepherdstown Commission. Many people deserve credit for the work that has been accomplished at the Warehouse including: Jim and Ann Ludwig, Diana Suttenfield, Shep Scott, Richard Jentsch, Fran Cox, Davitt McAteer, Dale Walter, Bob Reynolds, Keith Alexander, Tom Conant, Mina Goodrich, Tyra Guyton, Meredith Wait, Linda Shea, Eddie Sampson, Alan Levitan, Amanda Whitmore, Steve Ayraud, Corporation of Shepherdstown staff and the many Shepherdstown area residents who donated money to the restoration of the building.
| April 9, 2015 |