BGuthrie Photos: MD -- C&O Canal NHP -- Mile 72.9 -- Ferry Hill

MD -- C&O Canal NHP -- Mile 72.9 -- Ferry Hill:

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. FERRYH_120304_04.JPG: Ferry Hill Place John Blackford, in 1810, built the Ferry Hill Plantation House standing before you. Blackford owned 25 slaves and managed the farm by himself. The slaves and hired laborers worked with minimum direction. Two slaves, Ned and Jupe, ran the river ferry for which Ferry Hill was named. Blackford owned stock in the C&O Canal Company. When the canal came through in 1834 he had easy shipping access for his farm products to market. John Blackford, shown with one of his children, operated a diversified farm at Ferry Hill until his death on January 15, 1839. Henry Kyd Douglas lived here with his parents before the Civil War. Douglas was the youngest staff officer in the Civil War, serving with Confederate General Thomas (Stonewall) Jackson.
2. FERRYH_120602_006.JPG: Ferry Hill Farm, Ferry and Freedom The brick home in front of you once stood at the heart of a Western Maryland plantation called "Ferry Hill." Built between 1812 and 1820, the plantation consisted of nearly 700 acres of land, a tavern, and a ferry. An enslaved workforce of 18 people ensured the farm's success. Ferry Hill's builder, John Blackford, was an advocate of building the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal which crosses the lower part of the property along the Potomac River. Ferry Hill overlooks a strategic crossroads of the Potomac, the canal, and a series of river crossings. These routes carried farm products and coal, as well as immigrants and freedom seekers. During the Civil War, Union and Confederate forces occupied the home and grounds at various times. Henry Kyd Douglas, a resident of Ferry Hill, wrote the memoir, "I Rode with Stonewall," about his experiences as a Confederate officer.
3. FERRYH_120602_017.JPG: The People of Ferry Hill: Enterprising individuals lived at the site of Ferry Hill since its beginnings in the 1750s with ferry operator Thomas Van Swearingen. Six generations of three families related by blood or marriage -- the Blackfords, Douglases, and Beckenbaughs -- followed to manage Ferry Hill as a plantation estate. Until the Civil War, Ferry Hill's success depended on the labor of enslaved African Americans who toiled alongside free black and white workers. Along with their various activities, their names were recorded in plantation journals -- Caroline, Daphney, Enoch, Jupe, Murf, Ned, and others. "I rode to the clearing Will cuting Murph plowing. Caroline Isaiah & Enoch hauling off old corn stalks." -- Plantation Owner, John Blackford, 1838 In 1798, John Blackford married Sarah Swearingen, a direct descendant of ferry owner Thomas Van Swearingen. Sarah died in 1805, leaving Blackford with two children under the age of nine.
4. FERRYH_120602_029.JPG: Social Life at Ferry Hill: Prominently located overlooking the Potomac, Ferry Hill played an important role in society, as well as in commerce and war. Under John Blackford, the plantation became the center of a community in which he was a leading citizen. His family entertained friends, relatives, businesspeople, and passing travelers. Some visitors stayed for lunch or dinner. Others remained for days or even weeks. The mansion teemed with life when later owners, Reverend Robert Douglas and his wife, Helena, moved in with their four children. As a Confederate officer, his son, Henry Kyd Douglas, observed activities at Ferry Hill change from friendly festivals to gatherings of generals. Henry Kyd's sister, Nannie Beckenbaugh, operated a restaurant at Ferry Hill until the property was sold. "The Ferry House is full to overflowing with persons descending the canal in the morning." -- Plantation Owner John Blackford, Ferry Hill, 1837
5. FERRYH_120602_046.JPG: For the Record: How is so much known about Ferry Hill's history? Plantation owner John Blackford often wrote in a journal. Although well educated, John Blackford did not try to use correct English in his journal. Much like electronic correspondence today, the entries were short notes, clauses, and phrases written for his own use. Blackford's son, Franklin, and later owner Robert Douglas and his son, Henry Kyd, also kept detailed accounts of daily activities at Ferry Hill. They each recorded expenditures, business operations, births, illnesses, deaths -- and often, how they felt about their observations on the farm. Filled with hundreds of names of family, visitors, laborers, and strangers, the Blackford and Douglas family journals ensured Ferry Hill's recorded legacy for future generations. "Franklin & Elgen sat out for Williamsport for a Boat borrowed my sleigh harness." -- Plantation Owner John Blackford, Ferry Hill, 1838 A published version of John Blackford's Ferry Hill Plantation Journal, January 1, 1838 - January 15, 1839, Editing with An Introduction and Notes by Fletcher M Green, Chapel Hill, The University of North Carolina Press, 1961.
6. FERRYH_120602_053.JPG: Crossroads of Commerce and Conflict: This graceful mansion has witnessed decades of defining actions that helped shape America. As agrarian independence met industrial modernization, a successful nation emerged from the view through these wood-shuttered windows. Progressive farming techniques contributed to Ferry Hill's prosperity as the canal below linked the region. The outlook seemed as promising as the panorama from the front porch. In contrast to advancements at Ferry Hill, slavery persisted as freedom seekers beyond the farm's boundaries attained liberty. When the Civil War broke out, soldiers occupied the grounds and wrecked Ferry Hill. Confederate and Union troops both took a toll on the property. Although the sweeping staircase and its sturdy banister withstood the grip of troubled times, the plantation declined after the war. Two centuries of stories remain wrapped within the walls of this stately brick manor. Today Ferry Hill embodies American ingenuity and endurance as it remains poised above the Potomac at a historic crossroads of the nation. The location of a ford, and the town of Bridgeport, Ferry Hill Plantation was a hub of community and commerce until the Civil War caused its decline. National Park Service efforts to preserve Ferry Hill's Federal-style elegance are ongoing as the home stands sentinel above the Potomac for future generations to enjoy.
7. FERRYH_120602_058.JPG: Land of Abundance: "The farmers are using the reaper more and more every year, and I think before many years the wheat, rye, oats, and barley will all be cut with reapers." -- Businessman and Farmer Jacob Miller, Sharpsburg, 1859 Farmers in Western Maryland grew many produce varieties rather than a single cash crop. Most farms were small, family operations of only 100 to 250 acres, but Ferry Hill Plantation included 700 acres under John Blackfords' ownership in the early 1800s. Area farmers produced wheat, rye, and barley -- the region's primary commercial yields. Many also harvested timber, grazed livestock, and raised garden crops like corn, carrots, peas, parsnips, beans, and fruit. Progressive innovators, Western Maryland farmers practiced crop rotation, experimented with fertilizers, and purchased modern farm equipment. Growers processed their crops at local mills and transported their produce overland to Baltimore or along the Potomac River and Chesapeake and Ohio Canal to Georgetown and Alexandria. A Western Maryland Classic: Typical throughout Western Maryland, "bank barns" were built into the side of a hill or with an earthen ramp. Such construction allowed access to each floor from the ground level. Animals were sheltered on the lower level while the upper level provided areas for threshing or storage. Milling Along the Canal: Boatmen wait to transport flour and grain to market at Darby Mill near Williamsport. The C&O Canal enabled transportation of goofs and provided a power source for machinery. The Smell of Success: Early 1900s workers take a break from building a kiln on a Western Maryland farm. Kilns were necessary to process lime for fertilizer used to replenish soil nutrients. Adding manure and plaster could produce a steady yield of 20 bushels of wheat to an acre.
8. FERRYH_120602_068.JPG: Industry and Opportunity: "... the citizens of Washington County, Maryland, are deeply interested in the free and entire navigation of the Potomac River..." -- Plantation Owner John Blackford, Ferry Hill, 1823 A mile downstream from Ferry Hill, a natural ford across the Potomac River enabled travel for American Indians, European immigrants, settlers, and traders. Known as Pack Horse, Swearingen's, Blackford's, or Boteler's Ford, the crossing between Maryland and Virginia became vital to regional commerce. In the mid-1700s the ford allowed farmed to haul produce and livestock to Philadelphia and the frontier. Western Maryland's farm economy prospered, generating local industries that supported area agriculture. Mills processed grains, timber, and limestone, turning out flour, paper, and cement. Mines crushed and shipped iron ore as manufacturing surged throughout the region. Transporting goods on unimproved roads were expensive. By the mid-1800s, enterprising individuals like John Blackford had rallied for improved roads and increased funds for internal improvements.
9. FERRYH_120602_073.JPG: Connecting a Nation: "The business of this place is much increased, and is improving every year... The canal will be finished next fall and a new start will then take place in everything here." -- Merchant J.S. Shriver, Cumberland, 1849 Community trade connections grew stronger between Maryland and Virginia when Thomas Van Swearingen established a ferry across the Potomac River in 1765. His sons later increased the brisk business and expanded the family's land holdings. By the early 1800s John Blackford and his wife, Sarah Swearingen, acquired the business and property and established Ferry Hill Plantation. A growing regional economy and need for improved land and water routes prompted John Blackford to actively endorse the internal improvements movement. He support major construction projects ranging from the Chesapeake and Ohio canal, to local and regional roadways and railroads. By 1860 a series of turnpikes, railroads, and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal had crisscrossed the region, connecting the area to Baltimore and Washington markets.
10. FERRYH_120602_078.JPG: Working at Ferry Hill: "I would not care what privileges I had, or how well I was treated... I would not stay there [Maryland] under any consideration, because I know how good freedom is." -- Fugitive Slave George Ross, Hagerstown, 1863 Western Maryland's diverse agricultural economy featured more flexible labor practices than large southern plantations. Successful farming at Ferry Hill depended on an enslaved workforce of up to 18 people supplemented by hired part-time labor supplied by free blacks and whites. Blackford personally assigned tasks to enslaved men like Enoch, Jupe, Murl, and Ned, but allowed them to work without close supervision. Their duties varied from planting and harvesting to raising livestock and operating the ferry. Women like Daphney and Caroline worked in the house, scattered seeds, and cleaned wheat. Some white settlers in the area, including German immigrants like the "Dunkers" in Sharpsburg, showed little interest in slavery and supported abolition. Others realized the farmers who purchased slaves had little money for fertilizers or improved machinery.
11. FERRYH_120602_082.JPG: "[the] Potowmac River... is the centre of the Union. It is between the extremes of heat and cold... It waters that soil, and runs in that climate, which is most congenial to English grains, and most agreeable to the Cultivators of them." -- President George Washington, Letter to Englishman Arthur Young, 1791
12. FERRYH_120602_092.JPG: 1862: Ferry Hill after the Battle of Antietam, late September 1862. Union equipment and horses occupy the farm fields. The bridge and the barn are burnt, and cannon are aimed across the Potomac.
13. FERRYH_120602_104.JPG: A Strategic Location: Ferry Hill Plantation and Boteler's Ford became significant during the Civil War. The plantation overlooked this important crossing between Confederate Virginia and Union Maryland that drew armies to the property throughout the conflict. Troops set up artillery on the farm, used the house as a hospital, and ravaged Ferry Hill, bringing great suffering to the Douglas family.
14. FERRYH_120602_109.JPG: The War Had Begun: In the spring of 1861, Henry Kyd Douglas joined the 2nd Virginia Infantry in Harpers Ferry. When the Union army threatened to advance into Virginia, Douglas' unit took action. "I was with the regiment that marched to Shepherdstown to destroy the bridge over the Potomac at that point. I was with the company that set fire to it, and when, in the glare of the burning timbers, I saw the glowing windows in my home on the hill beyond the river and knew my father was a stockholder in the property I was helping to destroy, I realized that war had begun... Not long after, when i saw the heavens lighted up over in Maryland one dark night and knew that the gorgeous bonfire was made from the material and contents of my father's barn, I saw that I was advancing rapidly in a knowledge of the meaning of the war, and my soul was filled with revengeful bitterness."
15. FERRYH_120602_111.JPG: The Maryland Campaign: Autumn 1862: The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia invaded Maryland after a series of victories in the summer of 1862. The Confederates captured a 12,000-man garrison in Harpers Ferry before the Union Army of the Potomac caught up with them. In September the battles of South Mountain, Antietam, and Shepherdstown occurred as the Union army pursued the retreating Confederate army to and across the C&O Canal and the Potomac River. Hospital: During the Maryland Campaign, Ferry Hill was transformed from a home to hospital serving troops from both sides as the property changed hands. Mrs. Helen Douglas and her daughter Nannie nursed Confederate General WHF "Rooney" Lee (the son of General Robert E. Lee) after he was injured during the Battle of South Mountain on September 14. Three days later, General Alexander Lawton of Georgia, wounded at Antietam on September 17, arrived. After Antietam, Confederates evacuated Ferry Hill and it was quickly taken over by the Union army. The Battle of Shepherdstown occured [sic] on September 19 and produced a new crop of wounded, this time wearing blue. After Antietam, the region around the battlefield became a sprawling hospital. Over 17,000 wounded troops were cared for at places like Ferry Hill and Keedysville, Maryland.
16. FERRYH_120602_115.JPG: The Gettysburg Campaign: Summer 1863: For the second time in two years, the Confederate Army took the war north. The Union army followed closely. The two armies fought at Gettysburg on July 1st the 3rd. After suffering severe casualties, Lee retreated. During the retreat, cavalry clashes occurred in places like Monterey Pass. Lee was trapped at the flooded Potomac River at Williamsport before crossing the C&O Canal and river back into West Virginia at Falling Waters. A Sad Visit Home: As the Confederate army moved north towards Pennsylvania in the summer of 1863 Henry Kyd Douglas visited his home for the first time since the Union army had occupied Ferry Hill plantation after the Battle of Antietam in the fall of 1862. "We encamped near Shepherdstown and I visited my home across the Potomac and saw the desolation of war. My beautiful home was a barren waste and a common, and the blackened walls of the burnt barn stood up against the sky as a monument of useless and barbarous destruction. I felt that it would be hard for me, going into Pennsylvania, to set aside all ideas of retaliation." The Reel family's barn was struck by Union artillery and burned during the Battle of Antietam, 1862.
17. FERRYH_120602_124.JPG: Jubal Early's Raid: Summer 1864: In the summer of 1864, General Jubal Early was sent north to keep open Confederate supply lines. After defeating Union troops in the Shenandoah Valley, General Early moved towards Washington DC. The Confederates won a tactical victory at Monocacy but their attack on Washington was slowed and ultimately failed. Mapmaker's Office: Confederate mapmaker Jedediah Hotchkiss described the stay at Ferry Hill during Early's Raid in his journal: "Friday, June 19th. I went on to Gen. Johnston's quarters and across the Potomac, at Shepherdstown, at the Rev. Mr. Douglass', as Gen. Ewell said Gen. Johnson might wish to consult me about about routes, &cc... I worked on a map for Gen. Johnson. "Saturday, June 20. Spent the day at Mr. Douglass' very busy drawing maps. Heinrich's and Stainaker came and drew maps also. Quite warm -- it rained some at night... "Sunday, June 21st. Spent the day at Mr. Douglass'. Mr. Lacy preached a short sermon in the morning. I had to finish a map, by order..."
18. FERRYH_120602_125.JPG: Almost Home: After the Confederate surrender at Appomattox, Virginia, in April 1865, Henry Kyd Douglas made his way towards home. "For some reason I never understood -- pure cussedness I think it was -- I was told my parole would not permit me to go home across the Potomac and that I must stop south of the river. I had no money to pay for boarding, but fortunately a bachelor friend, James H. Shepherd, took me into his comfortable home. I was informed that I must get out of that rebel uniform. I had some time-eaten clothes at my home, and I also had a mule. I sold that animal for $125 in Greenbacks, bought a few clothes and began life." Confederates surrender on April 9, 1865, in Appomattox, Virginia. Walker's Brigade, commanded by Major Henry Kyd Douglas, was the last unit of the Army of Northern Virginia to surrender.
19. FERRYH_120602_129.JPG: I Rode with Stonewall: Conflict brought freedom for some and fame for others. Well known for his actions as a Confederate soldier, Henry Kyd Douglas sealed his celebrity -- and Ferry Hill's -- with his wartime memoirs. The legendary narrative was published in 1940 by his nephew, Henry Kyd Beckenbaugh, the first superintendent of Antietam National Battlefield.
20. FERRYH_120602_150.JPG: Architectural Endurance: John Blackford oversaw construction of his Ferry Hill plantation home, which was completed between 1812 and 1820. During the last 200 years, certain architectural elements like the kitchen hearth and back stairway were either changed or lost. Still, many of the property's original character-defining features exist today in exceptional conditional to help interpret the story of the families who once lived at Ferry Hill.
21. FERRYH_120602_154.JPG: Ferry Hill Timeline of Development: 1820: Ferry Hill plantation house is built by John Blackford 1840: Ferry Hill is sold to Reverend Robert Douglass 1911: John K. Beckenbaugh inherits Ferry Hill 1950: Frederick W. Morrison purchases Ferry Hill 1979: The National Park Service takes possession of Ferry Hill after purchasing it in 1974.
22. FERRYH_120602_166.JPG: Most Splendid Building: "It is built in the form of an L, and is the most splendid building of any country house in the state, and the view from it is equally grand." -- Writer Anne Royall on a visit to Shepherdstown, 1829 John Blackford's red brick mansion crowns Ferry Hill with historic and architectural significance. Constructed between 1812 and 1820, the home's rectangular shape, bright interiors, large windows, and decorative elements embody the Federal style of a nation confident after the Revolutionary War. With many original features intact -- leaded glass, grained panel doors, plaster walls and ceilings -- the mansion offers insights about the social and economic aspects of the plantation. A prosperous gentleman farmer, Blackford hired contractors -- and possibly directed enslaved laborers -- to perform construction and refinishing work over the years. The result was a formal parlor and central stair with carved railings; a spacious pantry, dining room, and kitchen; built-in cabinetry; and faux-painted baseboards that resemble marble. The Douglas family maintained the mansion from the 1840s through the 1880s, but the Civil War spoiled Ferry Hill's splendor. Modifications continued through the next century under the Beckenbaugh family and National Park Service ownership.
23. FERRYH_120602_170.JPG: Stewardship and Change: "The Canal or Rail Road, will ... produce a saving of 70 cents per barrel in the price of transportation to market, which will be about $90,000 upon the whole crop, making that addition to the income of the county." -- Editorial in Hagerstown Newspaper, 1831 Ferry Hill's fate depended partly on the success of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. Construction of the canal began on July 4, 1828 -- the same day the first rails were laid for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. In the decades that followed, the canal faced relentless challenges from land disputes, labor shortages, and competition from the railroad. Destructive floods, including those in 1889 and 1924, eventually contributed to the canal's demise. Despite these obstacles, a progression of owners sustained Ferry Hill's character. Agriculture continued at Ferry Hill in the 1900s when Robert and Helena Douglas' daughter, Nannie Beckenbaugh, operated an orchard and pig farm with her son's family. A cholera epidemic decimated the pig farm in 1924 and an economic decline ended the enterprise in 1928. Subsequent Beckenbaugh family members replaced farming with a restaurant operation in the 1940s, adding a kitchen and barroom to the rear of the mansion. Rail Power: The completion of the B&O Railroad contributed to the industrialization of America. The first year the B&O carried freight, it averaged 26 tons a day. By 1858, the B&O moved 224,000 tons of freight per day. 1924 Flood: The 1924 flood destroyed the iron truss bridge built in 1889 that replaced the frame bridge burned in the Civil War. For more than 10 years the old ferry crossing was revived. Another truss bridge built in 1939 was finally replaced in 2004 by the present Rumsey Bridge. Ferry Hill Inn Menu: Diners enjoyed the plantation atmosphere when Ferry Hill housed a restaurant beginning in the 1940s.
24. FERRYH_120602_173.JPG: An Enduring Sentinel: "... on a hill over against Shepherdstown, where from the gallery of its old house I could look for miles out into Old Virginia." -- Henry Kyd Douglas, I Rode with Stonewall More than two centuries of American determination and innovation have converged at Ferry Hill -- where people and the Potomac have shaped both the character of the land and the nation. Always a place of change, Ferry Hill's transformation persisted in the 1950s when Josephine Beckenbaugh sold her interest in the property to Frederick Morrison. Restaurant services continued at "Ferry Hill Inn" and the mansion was modified further. The National Park Service acquired the house and adjacent land in 1974. Care was taken to maintain the home's original fabric as Ferry Hill became the administrative headquarters for Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park until 2002. Although the house awaits future preservation efforts, its wide windows and worn floor still offer opportunities to imagine eras of prosperity, as well as times of trouble.
25. FERRYH_120602_177.JPG: Crossroads of Conflict: "I was with the company that set fire to [the bridge], and when ... I saw the glowing windows in my home on the hill beyond the river... I realized that the war had begun." -- Observations by Henry Kyd Douglas, 1861 Vital transportation routes along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, Boonsboro Turnpike, and the Shepherdstown bridge enabled Ferry Hill residents to prosper for decades, but practically caused their ruin. Because of its strategic location on the border of two rival forces, adversaries occupied Ferry Hill at various times during the Civil War. Union troops feared opposition from across the Potomac River. Confederate soldiers were concerned about attacks at Harpers Ferry and in the Shenandoah Valley. In 1861, when Union soldiers marched past Ferry Hill toward Virginia, Confederates destroyed the Shepherdstown bridge to halt the Federal army's progress. During the 1862 Antietam campaign, Ferry Hill Plantation became critical to Union and Confederate commanders as the mansion turned into headquarters, hospital, and artillery park. Both Union and Confederate troops trampled and pillaged the property when they crossed Boteler's Ford to engage at Gettysburg in 1863 and Monocacy in 1864.
26. FERRYH_120602_188.JPG: Fireplace Mantle: In 2002, the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park acquired this mantle from an antique dealer in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. The mantle was removed from the Ferry Hill House in the 1950s, when the house was converted into a restaurant called the "Ferry Hill Inn."
27. FERRYH_120602_190.JPG: Ferry Hill Mansion -- 1820: This model shows what Ferry Hill looked like in 1820. The house has experienced constant change since its completion. New materials replaced old materials. Smaller rooms gave way to larger rooms. New owners built additions. A much larger porch with columns replaced the original, smaller porch. Despite the changes, Ferry Hill still retains many of its original features.
28. FERRYH_120602_213.JPG: Welcome to Ferry Hill: This house has witnessed over 200 years of American history. The mansion gave shelter to generals and farmers, enslaved and free people, travelers, and men and women who called it home for generations. Today, Ferry Hill welcomes visitors from around the world. Ferry Hill is named after the ferry that crossed the Potomac River downstream beginning in 1765. The home was always close to transportation routes -- a river ford, turnpikes, the C&O Canal, and then bridges. These links to the outside world allowed Ferry Hill Plantation to prosper for decades. Roads and river crossings also brought thousands of soldiers and destruction during the Civil War. Through war, family tragedy, epidemics, and floods, Ferry Hill has endured for future generations to enjoy.
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