With the first portion being built in 1786, what is now known as the Entler Hotel has worn many hats.
A decade earlier, the empty lot served as a drill area for troops preparing to join George Washington on the battlefield near Boston. The building has been home to a hotel, grocery store, tavern, Civil War hospital, dormitory and storage facility over the years. A portion of the hotel was destroyed in 1912 in the biggest fire of Shepherdstown’s history but was quickly rebuilt. The property was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and restoration of the building began in 1979 after the citizens of the town rallied to save the Entler from razing.
Today, the rooms that house the Historic Shepherdstown Museum recapture the feeling of a small town hotel prior to the Civil War complete with the original guest register. Period furnishings and locally-made clocks and pottery grace two rooms on the main floor. The second floor features a traveler’s room and a Victorian sitting room. The museum houses many Civil War and Shepherdstown antiques, including a 1905 mail wagon and the half-scale replica of James Rumsey’s steamboat in the small barn in the garden.
Location: 129 East German Street, Shepherdstown
For More Information: 304-876-0910 • www.HistoricShepherdstown.com
