Shepherdstown is a town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States, located in the lower Shenandoah Valley along the Potomac River. Home to Shepherd University, the town's population was 1,531 at the time of the 2020 census. The town was established in 1762 along with Romney; they are the oldest towns in West Virginia.
Edwards Lucas was a nineteenth-century politician, lawyer and military officer from western Virginia, who served in the War of 1812, the Virginia House of Delegates and the U.S. House of Representatives before becoming superintendent of the military arsenal at Harpers Ferry (1837-1841) and then its paymaster until his death. His younger brother William Lucas would also later hold the redistricted congressional seat.
William Lucas was a nineteenth-century planter, politician and lawyer from Virginia.
Carlyle House is a historic mansion in Alexandria, Virginia, United States, built by Scottish merchant John Carlyle from 1751 to 1752 in the Georgian style.
Ridgedale is a 19th-century Greek Revival plantation house and farm on a plateau overlooking the South Branch Potomac River north of Romney, West Virginia, United States. The populated area adjacent to Washington Bottom Farm is known as Ridgedale. The farm is connected to West Virginia Route 28 via Washington Bottom Road.
The Van Swearingen-Shepherd House, also known as Bellevue, is a Colonial Revival mansion in Shepherdstown, West Virginia that is home to the descendants of Captain Thomas Shepherd, founder of Shepherdstown. The house, situated on a bluff overlooking the Potomac River, was built in 1773 by Thomas Van Swearingen as a single-story stone house. His son, also named Thomas Van Swearingen, was a US Representative. The Shepherd family acquired the house in 1900, when Henry Shepherd III bought the house as a wedding present for his bride Minnie Reinhart, whose grandfather was Thomas Van Swearingen. That year, the Shepherds gave a dinner party on the lawn for William Jennings Bryan during his second presidential campaign. The house remains in the hands of the Shepherd family.
Elmwood is a Federal style house near Shepherdstown, West Virginia. Located on land claimed in 1732 by Edward Lucas II, it was built in 1797 by his son, Edward Lucas III. During the Civil War the house was used as a field hospital. It remained in the Lucas family until 1948.
Beverley, also known as Bullskin, is a farm near Charles Town, West Virginia that has been a working agricultural unit since 1750. The narrow lane that leads from U.S. Route 340 to the Beverley complex was, in the 18th and 19th centuries a toll road. The main house was built about 1800 by Beverley Whiting on the site of a c. 1760 stone house. The house is Georgian influenced Federal style, with a later Greek Revival portico. A number of outbuildings dating to the original 1760 house accompany the main house.
Glenburnie is an historic farm complex located between Shepherdstown, West Virginia and Shenandoah Junction, West Virginia. The house was built by James Glenn in 1802, completing the barn two years later.
Morgan's Grove is a rural historic district near Shepherdstown, West Virginia. The area is noted for its abundant springs. Several historic houses and farms are in the district, including:
Falling Spring at Morgan's Grove is part of a related complex of buildings and lands associated with the Morgan family and other prominent members of the Shepherdstown, West Virginia, community.
Rumsey Hall, also known as the Entler Hotel, is an historic building in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. The building is located in the center of the Shepherdstown Historic District and is a composite of six separate phases of construction. The earliest portion was built in 1786, and was the home belonging to Christian Cookus. This section burned in 1912. This section was separated by a narrow passage from the core of the hotel property, first started in the 1790s by owner Daniel Bedinger. This Federal style structure was expanded to the corner sometime before 1809, with a further addition along Princess Street by 1815. A kitchen and a carriage house completed the complex. Significant interior features remain. In 1809 a store was opened in the corner building, operated by James Brown. At about the same time, the Globe Tavern opened, offering overnight accommodations. In 1815, Bedinger sold the property to James Brown and Edward Lucas for $6,000. In 1820 it was again sold, to Thomas Crown of Washington, D.C., for $4000. By this time the tavern was managed by Thomas James and the hotel by Daniel Entler. In 1823, Daniel Entler became the manager of the entire property. The Entlers managed the properties until 1873, when they moved to Piedmont, West Virginia, while retaining ownership of the hotel.
Rion Hall is a late Federal style house near Halltown, West Virginia. Built in 1836, it consists of a three-story brick house with a two-story kitchen wing connected by a wood hyphen. The house was used as a headquarters for General Philip H. Sheridan during the American Civil War.
The Captain William Lucas and Robert Lucas House, also known as Linden Spring, is a large stone house near Shepherdstown in Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States. It was built circa 1783 for Captain William Lucas, a Revolutionary War soldier. Lucas' son, Robert Lucas was born here and became a Governor of Ohio and the first Territorial governor of Iowa.
The Halltown Union Colored Sunday School, also known as the Halltown Memorial Chapel, in Halltown, West Virginia, was built in 1901 in the Gothic Revival style. The stone chapel was built by and for the local African-American community on a small parcel of land donated by Daniel B. Lucas from his Rion Hall estate, next to the Halltown Colored Free School. The non-denominational Sunday School operated until 1967, although the building continued in use for weddings and funerals. In 1982 a committee was formed to restore the building, which was carried out the next year.
Rockland, also known as Verdier Plantation, Schley Farm and Knode House, was built by James Verdier between 1771 and 1785 near Shepherdstown, West Virginia. Verdier was a Huguenot, the son of a French silk weaver, who married Lady Susanna Monei and came to North America to escape religious persecution. In America he became a tanner, with tanneries in Martinsburg, West Virginia, Sharpsburg, Maryland and Shepherdstown. His children founded Verdiersville, Virginia after his death. The older portion of the house is stone masonry. A brick Victorian style addition was built in 1897.
Traveller's Rest, also known as the General Horatio Gates Home, is an historic plantation house located on Bowers Road near Kearneysville, Jefferson County, West Virginia. Built in 1773 and enlarged a few years later, it was the home of Continental Army General Horatio Gates from 1773 until 1790. The house is very little altered from that period, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1972. The house is located on private property, and is not normally open to the public.
Brentmoor, also known as the Spilman-Mosby House in Warrenton, Virginia, is a historic site that was the home of Confederate military leader John Singleton Mosby.
The James Rumsey Monument, also known as Rumsey Monument Park, is a municipal park and former West Virginia state park in Shepherdstown, Jefferson County in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The park overlooks the Potomac River. It commemorates local inventor James Rumsey and his successful public demonstration of his steamboat invention on the Potomac in 1787. The monument consists of a 75 ft (23 m) column of Woodstock granite, which is capped with a globe and stands atop a tall, concrete plinth consisting of a 40 sq ft (3.7 m2) plaza.
Wild Goose Farm is a 173-acre (70 ha) farm complex near Shepherdstown, West Virginia, established in the early 19th century. The farm includes a large, irregularly-arranged main house, a Pennsylvania-style bank barn, a tenant house, and outbuildings including a spring house, smoke house, ice house, corn crib, water tower and a decorative pavilion.
