Interest in building a monument to Rumsey at Shepherdstown, and to the first successful public demonstration of his steamboat, began in the 19th century.

The Society acquired land from Norfolk and Western Railway in 1907, and commenced construction in 1915 following a contract with Forbes Granite Company of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.

[3][13][15] Rumsey was also an inventor and developed innovations in iron mining, smelting, gristmill and sawmill operation, and canal construction.

[3] In Bath in September 1784, Rumsey met George Washington, who was traveling across the Blue Ridge Mountains to assess the feasibility of transportation by road, rivers, and canal.

[16] Washington was concerned with unifying the United States through increased trade and improved transportation routes across the Appalachian Mountains, especially via canals and rivers.

[16] Rumsey demonstrated to Washington a small, wooden, model steamboat that traveled upstream in Warm Spring Run.

[3][24][25] In 1788, following successful demonstrations, a group of investors that included Benjamin Franklin, established the Rumseian Society to promote and support Rumsey's work.

[3][27][28] Interest in building a monument to Rumsey at Shepherdstown, and to the first successful public demonstration of his steamboat, began in the 19th century.

[31] In January 1903, West Virginia senator William Campbell introduced a bill to appropriate funds for a Rumsey monument.

[32][33] Prominent Jefferson County resident George Beltzhoover Jr. also took an interest in the movement to build a monument, and enlisted the support of the West Virginia Historical and Antiquarian Society under the leadership of W. S.

[34] The following March, an extra session of legislature passed a general appropriations bill, which included a provision of $1,750 for the Rumsey monument (equivalent to $59,344 in 2023).

[35] Supporters of the Rumsey monument were disappointed with the small appropriation, which was a fraction of the $5,000 originally requested from the state legislature.

[44] The Rumseian Society attempted to secure a site for the monument on a promontory along the Potomac River on property owned by the Norfolk and Western Railway.

[47] By January 1907, a Rumseian Society committee including Beltzhoover and state senator Campbell traveled to Philadelphia to meet with Joseph I. Doran, the chief counsel for Norfolk and Western.

The promontory property was subject to a mortgage with stringent conditions, requiring the company to charge the Rumseian Society for the deed.

[48] In 1915, the society agreed to pay property owner U. S. Martin $300 (equivalent to $9,036 in 2023) for his alleged rights to the land purchased from the railway to avoid further delay to construction and the potential for litigation.

[54] By August 1915, initial site work was completed and prepared for the arrival of the three railcar-loads of granite for the monument's base and shaft.

[58][59] On March 21, the granite globe weighing 8 short tons (7.3 t) was placed atop the column, completing construction of the monument's columnar section.

[60] The brass plaques arrived and were installed in August 1916, and the boundary stone walls and landscaping took slightly longer to complete.

[63][64] In 1931 and 1935, the state's department of agriculture included the monument in illustrated publications highlighting West Virginia's sites of historic and scenic interest.

[65][66] In 1955, residents of Shepherdstown gifted a plaque carved with Rumsey's achievements to St Margaret's church in Westminster, England, where he was buried.

[4] In November 2019, Shepherdstown's Parks and Recreation Committee and its Tree Commission planted a monarch butterfly waystation at the foot of the steps leading to the monument.

[76] The James Rumsey Monument consists of a 75 ft (23 m) fluted, Ionic column that is made of gray, hammered, Woodstock granite.

[4][9] Beltzhoover drafted the front plaque's text, which is not historically accurate because Rumsey did not build and test a full-sized steamboat at the 1783 trial at Sir John's Run.