301 E German St. In 1796, this brick house replaced an earlier log house. The trials of the Parran family poignantly illustrate the tragic impact of the Civil War. Dr. Richard Parran, a physician, died in 1851 leaving his widow and five daughters. The widow Parran remarried on the eve of the Civil War, but her husband joined the Confederate Army and was killed early in the war. One of her daughters, Lily, married William “Willie” Fitzhugh Lee, a cousin of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Willy died as a result of wounds at the First Battle of Bull Run. Another daughter married Dr. William Tinsley, also in the Confederate service, who helped organize the town’s care for the wounded after Antietam. Lily Lee and her husband had known Confederate General Jeb Stuart and his wife in happier times. Stuart visited Lily at the Parran House during the War. Eyewitness accounts of Stuart’s deathbed will in May, 1864, differ, but one version reports that Stuart ordered that his golden spurs be given to Lily Lee. There are reasons to doubt that Lily ever received them.
44. Wynkoop's Tavern
45. Reynolds House
207 E German St. Built in 1865 by Dr. John Reynolds who served the town as a doctor for more than 40 years. As town mayor 1860 to 1862 he had to deal with a dangerous situation when unknown persons on the Shepherdstown side fired at Union pickets across the river, drawing a protest and threat from authorities on the Union side. Reynolds’ wife Katherine led a community fundraising drive for the town hall attached to McMurran Hall in 1889. The building was later named in her memory.
46. Poorhouse
213 E German St. Town records list the poorhouse as early as 1805. Here, following Elizabethan tradition, the town provided a modicum of care for the poor and elderly. Though it began as a log house, it has been enlarged and covered with wooden siding. Iron rings in the attic rafters suggest that some of the residents may have been restrained.
47. Parran House
301 E German St. In 1796, this brick house replaced an earlier log house. The trials of the Parran family poignantly illustrate the tragic impact of the Civil War. Dr. Richard Parran, a physician, died in 1851 leaving his widow and five daughters. The widow Parran remarried on the eve of the Civil War, but her husband joined the Confederate Army and was killed early in the war. One of her daughters, Lily, married William “Willie” Fitzhugh Lee, a cousin of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Willy died as a result of wounds at the First Battle of Bull Run. Another daughter married Dr. William Tinsley, also in the Confederate service, who helped organize the town’s care for the wounded after Antietam. Lily Lee and her husband had known Confederate General Jeb Stuart and his wife in happier times. Stuart visited Lily at the Parran House during the War. Eyewitness accounts of Stuart’s deathbed will in May, 1864, differ, but one version reports that Stuart ordered that his golden spurs be given to Lily Lee. There are reasons to doubt that Lily ever received them.
48. Train Station
Between E German and E High Sts., on Audrey Egle Dr. The Norfolk and Western Railroad built the passenger station in 1909. Waiting rooms and rest rooms were segregated. After nearly a half century of service, passenger traffic ended in 1957 and the station closed, to be used by the railroad for storage. In 1996 the railroad deeded the passenger station to the town for $1.00, and the building was restored and redesigned as a multiple use facility.
49. Christ Reformed Church
S side of E German St., just beyond the N&W Railroad tracks. The German Reformed congregation built this church in 1839 on the site used by the German Reformed congregation since its organization about 1780. Its graveyard (still used) was established in 1774 and contains graves of Revolutionary War soldiers and patriots. A square tower of native stone, part of an earlier stone church built in 1798, rises at the back of the building surmounted by a steeple and belfry. The belfry contains three bells imported from Germany a few years after the Revolution by Michael Yeasley, a Revolutionary soldier. The largest bell contains the engraved date 1732 and “Rouen,” suggesting French manufacture.
50. The First St. Peter's Lutheran Church
N side of E German St, directly across the street from Christ Reformed Church. Here in 1795, the Lutherans built a beautiful brick church which served the congregation until 1908, when they constructed a new St. Peter’s on the SW corner of King and High Sts. The old church building burned in 1924. The church graveyard, established in 1774, remains intact but is no longer used. The old German schoolhouse still stands in the graveyard.
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.