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Packhorse Ford
Inventory No.:
WA-II-034
Other Name(s):
Pack Horse Ford; Boteler's Ford; Blackford's Ford
Date Listed:
7/15/2015
Location:
Potomac River at Canal Road, Sharpsburg, Washington County
Category:
Site
Period/Date of Construction:
Ca. 1730-1864
Boundary Description:
The Packhorse Ford boundary begins on the south bank of the Potomac River, at a point approximately 300 feet NE of the northeast corner of the Potomac Mills ruin, extends eastward 20 feet along the Maryland/West Virginia line, turns 90 degrees and extends northerly across the Potomac River, approximately 700 feet to a point on the north bank; turns 90 degrees and extends westerly along the north bank a distance of 20 feet; turns 90 degrees and extends across the Potomac River, approximately 700 feet to a point on the north bank; turns 90 degrees and extends westerly along the north bank a distance of 20 feet; turns 90 degrees and extends across the Potomac River to the beginning point. The nominated property thus encompasses approximately 14,000 square feet.
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Description:
Packhorse Ford crosses the bed of the Potomac River on a roughly north-south axis, between Canal Road in Washington County, Maryland and Trough Road in Jefferson County, West Virginia. It is entirely located within the Potomac River, and thus belongs to the State of Maryland. A footpath leads from Canal Road across the abandoned C&O Canal prism to the ford. The ford is a relatively flat ledge of rocks extending from the Maryland bank of the river to the West Virginia shore. Packhorse Ford is located approximately 1 1/2 miles downriver (southeast) of the MD Rt. 34 Rumsey Bridge between Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Shepherdstown, West Virginia. During periods of low water, typically during the summer months, the ford can be identified as a ripple on the surface of the water where the river flows over the rock ledge. On the West Virginia side no evidence of the ford access appears on the embankment between the river and Trough Road, the paved Jefferson County road that follows the route of the early 18th century wagon road. Trough Road, historically called Jost Hite’s road, runs through a gap formed by a seasonal creek through the bounding hills of the river valley. The old route intersected today’s Flowing Springs Road and continued southwest to join the Valley Road (today’s US Rt. 11). Near the ford access on the West Virginia riverbank are the ruins of Potomac Mills, a grain and cement milling complex built in 1828 and active through the end of the 19th century. The rock foundation of the old mill dam produces a second, more distinct set of ripples in the river approximately 400 feet upriver from the ford. Steep cliffs formed by limestone quarries rises several hundred feet above the Potomac Mills complex. The ford was the Potomac River crossing first used by American Indians and later adapted by emigrants as an early route to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, part of what was known as “The Great Waggon Road to Philadelphia”. No definitive documentation has been located confirming the route of the early “Great Waggon Road”. However, a review of historic maps, along with previous research of Indian paths and of early (1730s) land patent descriptions, provides a likely route: beginning along the Minquas Path, a Conestoga (Susquehannock) trading route out of Philadelphia, to the western branch of the Monocacy Road, connecting with the Monocacy to Antietam Road through Crampton’s Gap over South Mountain and through the Felfoot patent near today’s Keedysville, then crossing the Antietam Creek in the Smith’s Hills patent approximately where the Middle Bridge on MD Rt. 34 crosses today, to the Big Spring on the Hickory Tavern patent (today’s Sharpsburg) and continued by an undetermined route to the Packhorse Ford. The historic “Great Waggon Road” crossing at Packhorse Ford fell out of regular use after 1750 as a northern branch of the “Great Road” (today’s US Route 11) followed an easier route through the mountains, crossing the river via Watkins’ (later Williams’) Ferry near today’s Williamsport, Maryland. Likewise, by 1755 Swearingen’s Ferry (later Blackford’s Ferry), located about a mile and a half upriver of the rocky ford, eased the local river crossing. In 1834, the all but abandoned wagon road approach to the Packhorse Ford on the Maryland side was severed by the construction of the C&O Canal. During the American Civil War the ford briefly saw a resurgence of use by invading armies, the Potomac River being the border between North and South. The Packhorse Ford played a significant role in the September 17, 1862 Battle of Antietam, as Confederate General A.P. Hill’s troops arrived via the ford in time to prevent a decisive Union victory. Three days later the ford’s crossing, quarry cliffs, and Potomac Mills complex figured prominently in the September 20 Battle of Shepherdstown (also known as the Battle of the Cement Mill).
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Significance:
The Packhorse Ford of the Potomac River is historically significant in the area of transportation for its role as the first Potomac River crossing of the “Waggon Road to Philadelphia.” Also known as the Great Waggon Road, or Great Road, it carried much of the first westward migration of colonial settlers from the north and east across the river and into the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. German-immigrant farmers, moving through Pennsylvania, brought with them the grain-based agriculture that would soon dominate the region. Through the second half of the 18th century the western settler-farmers’ need for economical carriage of grain products to eastern markets brought about transportation improvements, including improved roads, ferry and bridge crossings, and by the 1790s, improved Potomac River navigation. Early 19th century technological advancements in transportation culminated with the construction of the C&O Canal and the B&O Railroad, both started in 1828. Each improvement served to marginalize the more-difficult Packhorse Ford crossing, particularly the canal which severed the approach to the ford on the Maryland side of the river. However, it seems the ford continued in use, at least to some degree, into the 19th century. The “Ford” was identified on the Charles Varlé Jefferson County Map of 1809 and the Herman Boye Map of Virginia in 1828. The Packhorse Ford derives additional historical significance for its role in the American Civil War: then known as Boteler’s or Blackford’s Ford, it became an important crossing on the boundary between the Union and the Confederacy, after nearby bridges were burned in 1861 to prevent unauthorized crossings. In 1862, the ford played a significant role in the September 17 Battle of Antietam or Sharpsburg, as the crossing point for Confederate Maj. Gen. Ambrose P. Hill’s troops arriving from Harpers Ferry to reinforce General Robert E. Lee. Hill’s perfectly timed arrival arguably prevented the complete defeat of the Confederate forces at Antietam. Still, the following day General Lee’s Confederates made a quiet retreat across the Packhorse Ford back into Virginia. On the night of September 19, Union troops crossed the ford in a surprise raid that culminated in the September 20 Battle of Shepherdstown, also known as the Battle of the Cement Mill, and a stinging Union defeat. The battle, however, proved to be the pivotal final engagement of General Lee’s Maryland Campaign, as it caused him to abandon his plan to return to the North and instead turned his army toward the interior of Virginia. The ford was used again in 1863 and in 1864 by invading Confederate troops, though it never saw battle again. Following the Civil War, the Packhorse ford fell into near-obscurity, used mainly—even to this day—by fisherman and Civil War re-enactors. The period of significance for the Packhorse Ford is c. 1730 through 1864, covering the Colonial settlement role of the Packhorse Ford through its pivotal role during the American Civil War.
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