Across the Potomac River from Shepherdstown, West Virginia, sits Ferry Hill Plantation, which has been part of the National Park system since 1974.
Looking back from the top, you can see the Rumsey Bridge, which crosses the Potomac River and parts of Shepherd University poking up.
There are two entrances to the property off 34/Shepherdstown Pike; the main entrance has a wide, smooth road leading to the mansion and a park sign. Beyond it is a large parking lot. It is free to visit this area. The road continues on, winding back down to the road. It is mostly one car wide, so be aware. There is parking along the road, and an unmarked connector trail leads down the hillside to the C&O Trail. There were a couple of cars parked there, and we had the mansion to ourselves.
The mansion is closed, the grounds are open for wandering. You can see where additions were made over the years.
There is an interpretive sign with a rough history of the plantation. There is so much more to the place, however, about how it was used as a ferry across the river, even after the C & O towpath was put in, when even more people came out.
The ferry itself was started in 1765, with the C & O Canal arriving in 1835. The ferry went north-south, the canal went east-west.
Henry Kyd Douglas gets a single mention, yet he was historically significant during the Civil War as he rode with Stonewall Jackson (he was a lawyer by trade, before and after the war). He was born in Shepherdstown, WV, and is buried there as well.
The house and land served both sides in the war, changing hands often. It went back to the owners after the war.
A single bulb is flowering in the lawn.
An ancient tree, with a very visible (most likely) owl home.
The front of the mansion has issues, showing rot in the wood and mold/water damage. Reading up on it, the columns were not original and came in the 1900s.
It would have been a beautiful home in its day.
The retention wall is a beauty to touch. I have a love of these stone walls from colonial times.
The fancy windows were very popular around the area; this one shows its age. In Shepherstown, there are many similar front doors.
Spring abounds in the trees.
It wasn’t a long visit, but a nice walk to check another National Park land off.
If you sat there long enough, and the cars were still, it’d feel like another time when you are there. The quiet, just bees, birds, and the wind off the river, it is so calming.
~Sarah