The James Rumsey Monument, also known as Rumsey Monument Park, is a municipal park and former West Virginia state park in Shepherdstown in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The park overlooks the Potomac River. It commemorates local inventor James Rumsey and his successful public demonstration of his steamboat invention on the Potomac in 1787. The monument consists of a 75 ft (23 m) column of Woodstock granite, which is capped with a globe and stands atop a tall, concrete plinth consisting of a 40 sq ft (3.7 m2) plaza. Interest in building a monument to Rumsey at Shepherdstown, and to the first successful public demonstration of his steamboat, began in the 19th century. In 1888, Congressman Alexander Boteler sought to raise money for a monument to Rumsey. In 1903, state senator William Campbell introduced bills to fund a monument and in 1905, the West Virginia Legislature provisioned an initial $1,750 for the monument (equivalent to $62,708 in 2025). The Rumseian Society was incorporated in 1906 to facilitate the monument's construction. The Society acquired land from Norfolk and Western Railway in 1907, and commenced construction in 1915 following a contract with Forbes Granite Company of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. The monument was completed in 1916 and became a state park in 1956, when the legislature transferred its operation to the state Conservation Commission's Division of State Parks. The commission was succeeded by the Department of Natural Resources, and in 1971, the legislature authorized the department to acquire the monument from the Rumseian Society. However, negotiations between the department and the society were unsuccessful. The department ceased operating the state park in 1978, and transferred its adjacent property to the corporation of Shepherdstown for use as a public park. The society retained ownership of the monument. In 1987, the monument and the four-acre park were added as a contributing property to the Shepherdstown Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.
Geography and setting
The James Rumsey Monument and surrounding park are located off Mill Street at the end of Rumsey Monument Road, within the eastern area of the corporation of Shepherdstown in Jefferson County, West Virginia. The site consists of a granite column monument atop a plinth, and a small adjacent park. It is situated atop a promontory overlooking the Potomac River at an elevation of 394 ft (120 m). The monument and park are surrounded by forested land. The platform around the monument's column provides a panoramic view of the Potomac River, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, the surrounding Potomac Valley, and the Blue Ridge Mountains. The James Rumsey Monument is located approximately 1,490 ft (454 m) southeast of the New James Rumsey Bridge (Maryland Route 34), 878 ft (268 m) southeast of the confluence of Town Run with the Potomac River, 783 ft (239 m) southwest of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (on the Maryland side of the Potomac), and 345 ft (105 m) west of Shepherdstown Railroad Bridge. The monument is a contributing property to the Shepherdstown Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.
History
James Rumsey
James Rumsey was born in Bohemia Manor in Cecil County, Maryland, in March 1743. He left his family's farm to operate a tavern on the Bohemia River, moved to Baltimore, and in 1782, he purchased land along Sleepy Creek near Bath, Virginia (present-day Berkeley Springs, West Virginia). Rumsey relocated to the Bath area in 1783, and built and operated a sawmill on his Sleepy Creek property. Rumsey worked in Bath as an innkeeper, general store operator, builder, and millwright. Rumsey was also an inventor and developed innovations in iron mining, smelting, gristmill and sawmill operation, and canal construction. His most significant invention was his development of steam power technology for operating water vessels. In October 1783, he successfully demonstrated a model steam-powered vessel on Sir John's Run at its confluence with the Potomac River, near the present-day community of Sir Johns Run. In Bath in September 1784, Rumsey met George Washington, who was traveling across the Blue Ridge Mountains to assess the feasibility of transportation by road, rivers, and canal. Washington was concerned with unifying the United States through increased trade and improved transportation routes across the Appalachian Mountains, especially via canals and rivers. Rumsey demonstrated to Washington a small, wooden, model steamboat that traveled upstream in Warm Spring Run. Washington was excited by the potential of Rumsey's boat, and Rumsey requested a written statement from Washington to solicit support, and funding from investors and the state of Virginia. Afterward, Washington publicly supported Rumsey over rival inventor John Fitch. Rumsey relocated from Bath to Shepherdstown, which was closer to the Potomac River, where he tested his model steam-powered vessels. Rumsey was hired as superintendent of the Potomac Navigation Company in July 1785. In December 1785, Rumsey tested an improved version of the pipe boiler on the Potomac in Shepherdstown. In December 1787, he successfully demonstrated the practical utility of his steamboat invention in a public trial on the river. In 1788, following successful demonstrations, a group of investors that included Benjamin Franklin, established the Rumseian Society to promote and support Rumsey's work. In 1791, Rumsey traveled to England to obtain additional support and funding for his projects, and to register patents for his inventions. While in England, Rumsey became ill and died the day before a scheduled steamboat demonstration in London. His body was buried at St Margaret's, Westminster.
Monument establishment
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