Ferry Hill Plantation

Ferry Hill Visitor Center is Closed

Ferry Hill Visitor Center is closed until further notice. The grounds are open to the public, however, and visitors can access the Ferry Hill Trail and the towpath from the parking lot. The Ferry Hill passport stamp is available at the Williamsport Visitor Center, 205 W. Potomac St., Williamsport, MD 21795, from March-November, Wednesdays-Sundays, 9 am - 4:30 pm.  

 

Ferry Hill has seen many visitors throughout its history.

NPS photo

Address: 16500 Shepherdstown Pike, Sharpsburg MD, 21782
[phone]

Ferry Hill Visitor Center is closed until further notice; plantation grounds are open to the public.

Ferry Hill sits above the crossroads of the Potomac River, Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, and the "great road" and has been and continues to be a place of change and adaptation. In 1775, van Swearingen had constructed a "Ferry Inn" at the ferry landing on the Maryland side of the river. The community that grew as a result of the ferry became known as Bridgeport.

John Blackford acquired interest in the ferry and adjoining acres through an inheritance from the van Swearingen family when he married Sara van Swearingen in 1812. Looking for an ideal location to build a home and start his family he decided to build the house high on the bluff overlooking the Potomac River.

Ferry Hill is a picturesque location and offers a chance to sit on the porch of the plantation house and peer down at the Potomac River and over into West Virginia to contemplate its place in history.

| Georgetown (MP 0.5) | Great Falls Tavern (MP 14.3) | Brunswick (MP 55.0) | Ferry Hill (MP 74.0) | Williamsport (MP 99.7) | Hancock (MP 122.8) | Cumberland (MP 184.5) |

 

Directions

From Martinsburg: Exit 16E Queen Street. Turn right onto WV 45E/Martinsburg Pkwy/E Moler Avenue. Turn left onto WV 480/N Duke Street. Cross the bridge over the Potomac River (MD 34E). First left after the bridge.

From Hagerstown I-70: Exit 29 MD 65 South toward Sharpsburg. Turn left onto MD 65/Sharpsburg Pike. Turn right onto MD 34. House on the right just before crossing the bridge over the Potomac River.

From Hagerstown I-81: Exit 26 to I-70 West toward Frederick. Exit 29 MD 65 South toward Sharpsburg. Turn left onto MD 65/Sharpsburg Pike. Turn right onto MD 34. House on the right just before crossing the bridge over the Potomac River.