Shepherdstown from Ferry Hill

This photograph was taken looking across the Potomac River at Shepherdstown, West Virginia from Ferry Hill plantation on the Maryland side. At various times before and after the Battle of Antietam both Confederate and Union troops had camped at Ferry Hill, which is situated three miles southwest of the town of Sharpsburg, Maryland.

At the bottom of the hill is a group of buildings known as Bridgeport and Lock 38 of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. Across the river (background) is the town of Shepherdstown. Extending across the river are the abutments of the bridge that once connected the two states. Burned in 1861, the bridge was not replaced for 10 years, during which time once again a ferry served the crossing. The gentleman standing on the hillside (foreground) is not identified, but may be the Reverend Robert Douglas, owner of Ferry Hill plantation at the time of the Civil War.

Ferry Hill was built by John Blackford c. 1813 and was a working farm until the 20th century. The large white house was used as a hotel, while down at the lock there was a feed store that was later converted into a bath house before it was destroyed in the 1936 flood.