Swiss immigrant Louis Michel traveled along the west bank of the Potomac River searching for land for a Swiss colony. He reported that Indians covered the area.
Near present day Shepherdstown, Presbyterians founded "West" Virginia's very first church at the site of Potomoke, Virginia. However, it should be noted that the Shepherdstown Presbyterian Church refutes this claim, and there is no indisputable evidence either way that I have been able to uncover to date. A small discussion on the Potomoke Church as viewed by Shepherdstown Presbyterian Church (and the history of their own church) can be read here.
The site of present day Shepherdstown, coined New Mecklenburg, is settled and founded by Germans from Pennsylvania. It was probably named after Mecklenburg, a region in northern Germany.
Thomas Shepherd receives a land grant of 222 acres. He selected 50 acres of his original 222 and laid out a town, naming it Mecklenburg, and petitioned the Virginia General Assembly for charter. You can view the original land grant online here.
The governor of Virginia signs bill of incorporation for both Mecklenburg (Shepherdstown) and Romney in Hampshire County.
Men from Mecklenburg (Shepherdstown) and other parts of the county meet in present day Morgan's Grove Park to link up with George Washington's Continental Army in Boston, beginning what is famously known as the Bee Line March.
A small pamphlet by James Rumsey, titled A Short Treatise on the Application of Steam, is printed at Mecklenburg (Shepherdstown), making it the first publication printed in "West Virginia". The pamphlet can be read online here.
A resident of Mecklenburg (Shepherdstown), James Rumsey debuted his steamboat on the Potomac River in front of George Washington and several other spectators. For more information on Rumsey's inventions and the steamboat, visit the Rumseian Society.
President George Washington was petitioned by Henry Bedinger and William Good to make the nation's capital Mecklenburg (Shepherdstown).
The first newspaper in "West Virginia", titled The Potowmak Guardian and Berkeley Advertiser, is published by Nathaniel Willis in Mecklenburg (Shepherdstown). The paper was published from November, 1790 to January 15, 1798, however the earliest surviving issue that has been found to date is dated June 27, 1791. After ceasing to print the paper, Willis moved to Martinsburg and printed the publication, beginning April 3, 1792, under the shortened name of Potomak Guardian. Later, he changed the name yet again to Berkeley Advisor, before settling on the name Potomak Gaurdian.
See libraries that have issues of The Potowmak Gaurdian and Berkeley Advertiser.
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