Maidstone-on-the-Potomac

Maidstone-on-the-Potomac is a historic house and farm near Falling Waters, West Virginia, on the Potomac River opposite Williamsport, Maryland. The 218-acre tract carries a main house dating from about 1741, built by Evan Watkins, who operated Watkins Ferry, a crossing used by George Washington and General Edward Braddock. The property passed to Peter Light in 1795, and the Light family, who substantially expanded the house, retained it until 1854; the ferry crossing later became known as Light's Ferry and was converted to a cable ferry under a later owner, Robert Lemen. Union forces crossed at the ferry during the Civil War, including troops pursuing Robert E. Lee's army toward Gettysburg in 1863. U.S. Route 11 now crosses the property at the site of the historic ferry crossing.