Shepherdstown, West Virginia, is older than our country, that’s why it has a reputation as the “Most Haunted Town In America.” Initially settled by Native Americans, the first European settler was Thomas Shepherd. He received the land grant parcel located on the south bank of the Potomac River in 1734, an early river crossing in those days. In 1762, the town was chartered as Mecklenburg in honor of King George III’s wife Charlotte. It would return to the name Shepherd’s Town in 1798 to honor founder Thomas Shepherd.
Being older than the United States, Shepherdstown has seen its fair share of American history. One cemetery in town has the headstones of Revolutionary War soldiers. And, during the Civil War, both Union and Confederate troops occupied the village. The Civil War’s bloodiest battle, the Battle of Antietam, took place a few miles away. After the fighting ended, residents cared for countless wounded in their homes; and buried hundreds more in their fields.
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