Welcome to Historic Shepherdstown

Historic Shepherdstown is an active, non-profit, membership organization dedicated to preserving Shepherdstown's architectural character, and building public understanding of Shepherdstown's distinctive history.

Incorporated in 1961, Historic Shepherdstown has undertaken many important major projects that benefit our community. The Historic Shepherdstown Museum was founded in 1983, and in 1986 the expansion and updating of the National Register for Historic Places listing for the Shepherdstown Historic District was completed. The largest effort began in 1972 when the historic Entler Hotel was scheduled for demolition. Volunteers worked together to save and restore the building as a center for public activity. After many years of heavy public use, a major 25th anniversary renovation project was undertaken in 1997-98 to further enhance the public rooms. Today the Entler is headquarters for the Historic Shepherdstown Commission.

HISTORIC SHEPHERDSTOWN TO KICK OFF 250TH SPEAKER SERIES

The Historic Shepherdstown Commission will kick off a speaker series honoring Shepherdstown’s 250th anniversary with a December 1 talk about the town’s early years. The opening speaker will be Shenandoah University History Professor Dr. Warren Hofstra.

Dr. Hofstra’s talk, entitled “The Making of Mecklenburg and the Settlement of the Virginia Backcountry,” will take place in the auditorium of the Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies at 7:00 p.m. Refreshments will follow the lecture.

The Byrd Center is located on the Shepherd University campus at 213 King Street, Shepherdstown. Parking is available behind the Byrd Center. This first lecture in Historic Shepherdstown’s 250th Speaker Series is also sponsored by the Shepherdstown Men’s Club and the Jefferson County Historical Society.

Dr. Hofstra has written extensively on the topic of early backcountry Virginia, which includes Shepherdstown or Mecklenburg, as it was first called. He has written “The Planting of New Virginia: Settlement and Landscape in the Shenandoah Valley” and edited “The Great Valley Road of Virginia: Shenandoah Landscapes from Prehistory to the Present.

The Historic Shepherdstown 250th Anniversary Speaker series will continue throughout the year of Shepherdstown’s anniversary celebration. The list of additional events follows. Light refreshments will be served after each talk.

• March 29, 2012. President of the Rumseian Society Nick Blanton. “Stubborn Advocates: How Shepherdstown Came to Carry a Torch for James Rumsey.” Entler Hotel, 7 p.m.
• April 26, 2012. Coordinator of Shepherd University’s Historic Preservation Program Dr. Keith Alexander. “Town Run: Economic Heartbeat of Early Shepherdstown. Entler Hotel, 7 p.m.
• May 24, 2012.; Shepherd University Research Assistant Professor Hannah Geffert and others. “Brown v. Board of Education and Integration in Shepherdstown.” A panel discussion. Entler Hotel, 7 p.m.
• September 5, 2012. Shepherd History Professor Emeritus Dr. Jerry Thomas. “Myths, ‘True Facts,” and Surprising Tidbits of Shepherdstown History: A Brief Account of Some Twists and Turns along the Path of the Walking Tour.” Entler Hotel, 7 p.m.
• September 20, 2012. Shepherd graduate and Civil War Trust staffer, Nicholas Redding. “Like an Awful Dream: Shepherdstown at War, 1961-1865. Robert C. Byrd Legislative Center Auditorium, Shepherd University, 7 p.m., reception to follow.
• October 25, 2012. Shepherd University Communications Department Chair, Dr. Kevin Williams. “The Shepherdstown Train Station: An Oral History,” a film. Entler Hotel, 7 p.m.
• November 29, 2012. Shepherd Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History, Dr. John Stealey III. “Shepherdstown’s History in Regional and National Context” (tentative title). Robert C. Byrd Legislative Center Auditorium, Shepherd University, 7 p.m. Also sponsored by the Jefferson County Historical Society and the Shepherdstown Men’s Club. Robert C. Byrd Legislative Center Auditorium, 7 p.m., reception to follow.

Renovated Chambers in Entler Museum. The former Parlors were taken back to depict 1840s Chambers. One Chamber depicts the Sitting Chamber were guests would gather to read, socialize, play cards or write letters.The Dining Chamber is in the background.

Historic Shepherdstown Museum

Historic Shepherdstown Museum is open April thru October on Saturdays & Sundays.  We welcome private tours.

Please contact us at 304-876-0910 to arrange your private tour.

The Museum is housed in the old Entler Hotel building at the corner of German and Princess Street. The building, which is on the National Register of Historic Sites, dates from the early 1800’s and was operated as a hotel until 1921 when it was purchased by Shepherd College. In the early 1970’s the building was purchased by the town from the college and restored through the efforts of the Historic Shepherdstown Commission, a group of local townspeople. The museum was opened in 1983.

Items of interest in the museum include three tall clocks made in Shepherdstown in the late 1700s by Jacob Kraft, one of many craftsmen of German ancestry attracted to Thomas Shepherd’s new town shortly after it was chartered in 1762. Several of the rooms in the museum recapture the feeling of a small town hotel as it must have been back before the Civil War, when the Entler was in its heyday. Period furnishings, many of them which have strong association with Shepherdstown and its early residents, grace two rooms on the main floor – the original sitting Chambers. The second floor features a traveler’s room as it might have been around 1840, (when a night’s lodging could be had for 25 to 50 cents) as well as new Civil War room focusing on Shepherdstown’s involvement. The museum also features Sheetz rifles, Rickard locks, textiles dating from the early 18th century and items dating from the Revolutionary War. Of particular interest is a mail wagon from about 1910, given by the Shepherdstown Volunteer Fire Department.

Housed in the garden area is a half-scale replica of James Rumsey’s steamboat, the first known adaptation of steam power to water travel. Rumsey successfully demonstrated his experimental craft on the Potomac River in December 1787, fully twenty years before Robert Fulton. The more modern craft, built to Rumsey’s patent specifications, is often exhibited steaming under its own power on special occasions.

For more information on the museum, its collection and hours of operation or to arrange special tours or access the museum archives, please call Cheryl Gregory at Historic Shepherdstown, 304-876-0910.