Thomas Cresap Gravesite and Ginevan House

Thomas Cresap died in 1787 and was buried here, overlooking Lock 70. This land was later owned by the Ginevan family, who built an impressive Victorian home on the land, which still stands today.

For many years (centuries, in fact), Thomas Cresap’s grave sat unmarked and nearly forgotten. Livestock grazed over the unkempt grave, and the headstone was knocked over. In 1939, someone moved the headstone to the Oldtown Methodist Church cemetery a mile away for safekeeping. For the next 60 years, the gravesite would sit unmarked in the middle of a cow pasture. Historians, descendants, and the National Park Service overcame many challenges to return the headstone to its rightful place in the 1990s.