Shepherdstown, West Virginia

Pack Horse Ford was a famous crossing place on the Potomac River, one mile east of Shepherdstown. This broad and shallow ford was for centuries the highway between the North and South. The buffalo and elk and other creatures of the plain and forest used it; it was on the main trail of the Indians; it was the gateway through which the first settlers found their way into the Valley of Virginia, bringing their possessions on pack horses, thus giving the ford its name.

Pack Horse Ford has an important place in the history of the Virginias, since its situation determined the site of Shepherdstown and opened the way to the settlement of the Shenandoah Valley. By this route, the famous company of patriots, organized at Morgan's Spring, made their "Bee Line March to Boston;" and had the honor of being the first company of soldiers from south of the Potomac to be greeted by General Washington. The Pack Horse Ford Chapter, NSDAR, erected a monument and tablet to these brave soldiers at the south end of Shepherdstown on October 28, 1932.

Do you have questions about membership? Please contact Cynthia Nicewarner: [email protected]

Pack Horse Ford Chapter page maintained by Ericka Cheuvront, WVDAR member and VIS Chairman, [email protected]
This page was originally created by: Nathan Gageby