of Shepherdstown gifted a plaque carved with Rumsey's achievements to St Margaret's church in Westminster, England, where he was buried. State and municipal parks In 1925, the West Virginia Legislature established the State Forest, Park and Conservation Commission. In 1927, the Commission provided its recommendations to the legislature, which included a recommendation for a State Monument System. In its list of extant historical monuments to be included in this system, the Commission included the James Rumsey Monument. The monument became a state park in 1956, when the West Virginia Legislature transferred its operation to the West Virginia Conservation Commission's Division of State Parks, which gave the employees of Cacapon Resort State Park, under the supervision of ranger James Ambrose, responsibility of maintaining the monument's grounds. The monument site remained under the Rumseian Society's ownership while the Division of State Parks operated the site as a state park. A 1960 National Park Service survey of U.S. state parks classified the park as a "state monument" and noted its lack of water recreation, and overnight and dining accommodations. The state ceased paying for the park's maintenance in the 1960s, after which private efforts kept the park from deteriorating. The monument's lilac garden was listed in 1960 and 1974 guides to American gardens; author Harry Britton Logan wrote the monument was "well worth a visit in early spring". The state's Conservation Commission was succeeded by the Department of Natural Resources and in 1971, the West Virginia Legislature passed House Bill 1151, which authorized the department to acquire the monument site from the Rumseian Society and allocated $15,000 for the acquisition (). Negotiations with the society were unsuccessful and the department was unable to acquire the monument. Instead, the department used $13,750 () of the original allocation to purchase of land adjoining the monument site. In December 1974, Shepherdstown presented its first official seal, which included the monument as part of a montage of local landmarks. The Department of Natural Resources ceased operation of the state park on November 6, 1978, when it transferred the to the corporation of Shepherdstown for use as a municipal park adjoining the monument site. In 1987, members of the Rumseian Society built a half-scale model of Rumsey's steamboat. The society sponsors the Rumsey Regatta, in which it runs its model up and down the Potomac. On July 22, 1987, the monument and the adjoining park were added as