April 6 was a beautiful spring day in Shepherdstown, so of course there were people wading in the Town Run. It looked as if they were having fun (above), but they were also volunteers helping to remove trash and invasive plants along the Princess Street riverside park, between the stone walls along Jefferson Security Bank, and at Morgan’s Grove Park.
If you were to say a river runs through Shepherdstown, that would be the literal truth, as the Town Run meanders under streets (image left) and even under several buildings that were built over the waterway. Today you have to peek through fences and walk to the edges of town to glimpse the stream, but well into the twentieth century, the Town Run was a lot more visible as an open stream with active industry along its banks.
Environmental historian Dr. Keith Alexander talked about the historical, ecological, and cultural significance of Town Run and how it has shaped Shepherdstown’s identity and influenced its development during an April 18 presentation organized by the Historic Shepherdstown Commission and the Potomac Watershed organization.
When Thomas Shepherd staked out the land claim that would later become the town, the stream was known as Falling Spring Branch. The name makes literal sense, capturing both the Town Run’s origins in the springs near the present-day Morgan’s Grove Park, and the cascade down to the Potomac River (image above right & below), an attractive feature for 18th and 19th century water-powered industry.
More recently, the Town Run has been designated as a secondary water source for the public water utility that serves Shepherdstown and the surrounding area. According to Woody Coe, the chief system operator for the Shepherdstown system, the Town Run can be used both as an emergency source during incidents when the Town needs to avoid taking water from the Potomac River and as an occasional blending source to reduce the amount of chemical treatment required whenever the water from the Potomac has a heavy organic load from natural sources.
You can learn more about efforts to protect and improve the Town Run and volunteer opportunities at TownRunWatershed.org.
