Harpers Ferry National Historical Park ⓘ

John Brown and the people with him planned and executed a raid on the National Armory and Arsenal at Harpers Ferry. Brown's contemporary, abolitionist Frederick Douglass, tells the story of the raid in this Address at the 14th Anniversary of Storer College. Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, May 30, 1881.

On the night of the 16th of October, 1859, there appeared near the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, a party of nineteen men—fourteen white and five colored. They were not only armed themselves, but had brought with them a large supply of arms for such persons as might join them. These men invaded Harper's Ferry, disarmed the watchman, took possession of the arsenal, rifle-factory, armory and other government property at that place, arrested and made prisoners nearly all the prominent citizens of the neighborhood, collected about fifty slaves, put bayonets into the hands of such as were able and willing to fight for their liberty, killed three men, proclaimed general emancipation, held the ground more than thirty hours, were subsequently overpowered and nearly all killed, wounded or captured, by a body of United States troops, under command of Colonel Robert E. Lee, since famous as the rebel Gen. Lee. Three out of the nineteen invaders were captured whilst fighting, and one of these was Captain John Brown, the man who originated, planned and commanded the expedition…[He] was brought into court, subjected to a nominal trial, convicted of high treason and inciting slaves to insurrection, and was executed. His corpse was given to his woe-stricken widow, and she, assisted by Anti-slavery friends, caused it to be borne to North Elba, Essex County, N. Y., and there his dust now reposes, amid the silent, solemn and snowy grandeur of the Adirondacks.

Today, John Brown's Fort and the Arsenal ruins are part of the legacy of our nation's struggle with slavery.

Read a blow by blow account of John Brown's Raid. Meet John Brown's family. Find out how Harpers Ferry citizens reacted to Brown’s raid and learn how people have remembered Brown over the years following the raid.

John Brown's raid helped catapult the nation into Civil War. The war had a disastrous effect on Harpers Ferry, leaving a path of destruction that wrecked the town's economy and forced many residents to flee forever. Because of the town's strategic location on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, at the northern end of the Shenandoah Valley, and near Washington, DC, United States and Confederate troops moved through Harpers Ferry frequently. The town changed hands eight times between 1861 and 1865. On April 18, 1861, less than 24 hours after Virginia seceded from the Union, U. S. soldiers set fire to the Armory and Arsenal to keep them out of the hands of approaching Virginia militia. The fires destroyed the Arsenal and 15,000 weapons, but the Virginia militiamen and local townspeople put out the flames. The Virginia soldiers then shipped the weapon-making equipment south. When they abandoned the town two months later, these soldiers, now Confederates, burned most of the factory buildings and blew up the railroad bridge. On July 4, 1861, Harpers Ferry citizen Frederick Roeder was caught in crossfire between U. S. and Confederate forces and became the first Harpers Ferry civilian casualty of the war. Federal forces re-occupied Harpers Ferry in 1862. During the Confederacy's first invasion of the North, on September 15, 1862, Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson surrounded and captured the 12,500-man Union garrison stationed here . Learn more about the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia's campaign and Harpers Ferry's subsequent fall to the Confederate army . When the Federals returned to Harpers Ferry after the Battle of Antietam, they transformed the surrounding heights into fortified bastions to protect the garrison and the railroad. These defenses were put to the test from July 4 to July 7, 1864, as Confederate General Jubal Early led his Army of the Valley to Harpers Ferry en route to an attack on Washington, DC. The U. S. garrison here successfully held out against Early, delaying him for several days and helping save Washington. Later that summer, U. S. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan used Harpers Ferry as his base of operations to wage a successful campaign in the Shenandoah Valley against Gen. Early’s army.

African American history has deep roots here. The first free Black family settled in this area in colonial times. The first known enslaved person in Harpers Ferry was brought here by the town founder and sold upon his death. Enslaved and free African American labor supported the growth of the U.S. Armory and Arsenal in Harpers Ferry. Harpers Ferry was used by freedom seekers on the Underground Railroad . Free and enslaved people of color fought with John Brown to end American slavery. Colonel Tubman, as Brown called Harriet Tubman helped to recruit and raise funds for the attack. During the Civil War, United States Colored Troops recruited soldiers in the area. The only African American Civil War field officer, Major Martin Robinson Delaney, was born in this area. Civil Rights giants like Frederick Douglass and W.E.B. Du Bois were drawn to Harpers Ferry. African American students sought an education here, first at the Freedman's Bureau school and later at Storer College — one of the first schools to offer higher education to people of color. African American efforts enshrining John Brown paved the way for Harpers Ferry to become a National Historical Park. More than 250 years after the first family settled the area, Jefferson County still boasts the longest established African American community in the state.

Explore John Brown's Fort . Learn more about the Niagara Movement founded by W.E.B. Du Bois. Meet Storer College alumnus Don Redman , the "little giant of jazz." View the Storer College's first school room at Lockwood house and the school's headquarters at Anthony Memorial Hall . Listen to Storer College alumni in their own words. Find out more about African American Heritage .

The United States Armory and Arsenal, established here in 1799, transformed Harpers Ferry from a remote village into an industrial center. Between 1801 and the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, the Armory produced more than 600,000 muskets, rifles, and pistols, and employed, at times, over 400 workers. Learn more about the Armory grounds cultural landscape, or archeological efforts to understand the Armory . In 1803, Meriwether Lewis arrived at the U.S. Armory at Harpers Ferry on a mission from President Jefferson . Lewis, with William Clark, had been appointed to lead a Corps of Discovery across the continent, exploring the vast western lands recently acquired through the Louisiana Purchase. Often referred to as "the Lewis and Clark Expedition," members of the party covered nearly 8,000 miles across the continent between 1804 and 1806. Inventor John H. Hall pioneered interchangeable firearms manufacture at his Rifle Works between 1820-1840 and helped lead the change from craft-based production to manufacture by machine.

Explore American everyday life in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. Stroll Shenandoah Street in the historic Lower Town of the park. Step into park exhibits that put you in the place of a 19th century townsperson in a bustling industrial town. Learn about the Top 10 Dangers in the 19th Century Home. Imagine yourself as a father trying to free his enslaved family . Find out how founders like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson played a role in 18th century Harpers Ferry. Discover what Meriwether Lewis procured for the Corps of Discovery. Experience a part of Storer College life in Lockwood House . Learn about how cataclysmic floods ultimately destroyed the town's industry.

Learn more about Flooding and climate change in Harpers Ferry. Check out Meriwether Lewis's List of inventory acquired at Harpers Ferry and the Route of Meriwether Lewis from Harpers Ferry, Va. to Pittsburgh, Pa.

Home to bald eagles, critical habitat for peregrine falcons, playground of black bears, Harpers Ferry is a natural wonderland . Explore the park's 22 miles of hiking trails . Keep a lookout for Hawks, Eagles, and Kites .

Learn about the first successful peregrine falcon fledging at Harpers Ferry in almost 70 years . Use the NPSpecies lists tool for a checklist of wildlife in Harpers Ferry. Find out how the National Park Service protects our wild heritage .

The physical and historical geography of the Harpers Ferry area shows how landscapes shape human history and how humans profoundly affect natural landscapes—a powerful reminder that the actions of today determine the opportunities of tomorrow. The Harpers Ferry water gap has attracted human attention for centuries. Indigenous people, early European settlers, and canal and railroad used the gap in the Blue Ridge as an avenue of travel and transport. The rivers that carved the gap also produced power for the town's mills and factories . Hardwoods from the mountains provided charcoal for industry and fuel for stoves. Harpers shale afforded excellent building material. Although severe floods sometimes ravage what human hands have built, the land here has proven resilient. Before the Civil War, Virginius Island boasted several private industries, including a sawmill, flour mill, machine shop, two cotton mills, tannery, and iron foundry. Lewis Wernwag, a noted bridgebuilder from Philadelphia, was one of the island's first entrepreneurs. Following the war, two water-powered pulp mills were erected along the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers. Today only ruins remain of Harpers Ferry's 19th-century industrial heyday.

In 1796, the government purchased a 125-acre parcel of land bounded by the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers from the heirs or Robert Harper. Construction of the "United States Armory and Arsenal at Harpers Ferry" began in 1799. Three years later full-scale production of arms commenced. Muskets, rifles and, after 1805, pistols were all manufactured here. By 1810, annual production of arms averaged about 10,000.

But from the very beginning, the Harpers Ferry Armory labored under a deficiency of waterpower and charges of mismanagement. After more than four decades of piecemeal funding and outright neglect, plans for the site’s complete renovation were drawn up in 1844. Between 1845-1854, seven new workshops were erected, 121 new machines were installed, the Armory Canal was enlarged, and heavier millwork including the installation of new Boyden turbines was completed. The new buildings consisted of brick superstructures with cast-iron framing, sheet-iron or slated roofs, and large arched portals and windows, all erected upon heavy stone foundations.

This extensive reconstruction created a more integrated physical plant, whereby the flow of work from one stage of arms production to another was greatly facilitated. These buildings became known collectively as the "U.S. Musket Factory." Compared to 1802, when the Armory employed just 25 men, by 1859 the workforce had grown to about 400.

With the Civil War there came destruction. When Virginia passed an ordnance of secession on April 17, 1861, the Harpers Ferry Armory became an immediate target. Lt. Roger Jones of the U.S. Army defended the Armory on the evening of April 18, 1861, with 50 regulars and 15 volunteers. In nearby Charles Town several companies of Virginia militia – 360 men in all – assembled and advanced toward Harpers Ferry. Jones, outnumbered and unable to obtain reinforcements, set torches to the Armory and Arsenal buildings before retreating across the Potomac River.

Further destruction came with Confederate occupation of Harpers Ferry in the spring of 1861. Southern forces confiscated the Armory’s ordnance stock, machinery, and tools before burning many of the remaining Armory buildings. By war's end, only the Armory's fire engine and guard house – John Brown's Fort – remained intact. Today, the Armory Grounds are almost completely covered by railroad track embankments.

A visit to John Brown's Fort is more than seeing the building where John Brown and several of his followers barricaded themselves in 1859. The building has a complex history that begins in 1848, continues through to today, and includes four locations in Harpers Ferry and one in Chicago.

To access John Brown's Fort from the Lower Town shuttle bus stop, walk along the sidewalks of Shenandoah Street toward The Point. John Brown's Fort is the last building on the right side of the street. It is open to the public during park hours.

The structure we now call John Brown’s Fort was erected in 1848 as the Armory’s fire engine and guard house. The building was described in a June 30, 1848, Armory report as “an engine and guard-house, 35½ x 24 feet, one story brick, covered with slate, and having copper gutters and down spouts, has been constructed, and is now occupied.” It was in this building that John Brown and several of his followers barricaded themselves during the final hours of their ill-fated raid of October 16, 17, and 18, 1859.

During the Civil War, the John Brown Fort was used as a prison, a powder magazine, and perhaps a quartermaster supply house. Union troops admired the fort as they passed while Confederate troops cursed it. Many troops broke pieces of brick and wood off the fort as souvenirs. It was the only Armory building to escape destruction during the Civil War.

In 1891, the fort was sold, dismantled and transported to Chicago where it was displayed a short distance from The World’s Columbian Exposition. The building, attracting only 11 visitors in ten days, was closed, dismantled again and left on a vacant lot.

In 1894, Washington, D.C. journalist Kate Field, who had a keen interest in preserving memorabilia of John Brown, spearheaded a campaign to return the fort to Harpers Ferry.

Local resident Alexander Murphy made five acres available to Miss Field for the cost of $1, and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad offered to ship the disassembled fort to Harpers Ferry free of charge. In 1895, John Brown’s Fort was rebuilt on the Murphy Farm about three miles outside of town on a bluff overlooking the Shenandoah River.

In 1903, Storer College began their own fundraising drive to acquire the structure. In 1909, on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of John Brown’s Raid, the building was purchased and moved to the Storer College campus on Camp Hill in Harpers Ferry.

It was used as a museum and many students were required to give tours of the museum to strengthen their public speaking skills.

Acquired by the National Park Service in 1960, the building was moved back to the Lower Town in 1968.

Because the fort’s original site was covered with a railroad embankment in 1894, the building was placed about 150 feet east of its original location.

On September 4, 1862, Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia splashed across the Potomac River into Maryland at White's Ford. During the next few days, Lee's veteran Confederates settled in around the town of Frederick. The first invasion of the North had begun.

With his invasion, Lee expected some 14,000 Federal troops garrisoning Harpers Ferry and Martinsburg to withdraw northward. In fact, Lee's plans depended upon it - the Confederates needed the Shenandoah Valley as their line of supply and communication while they campaigned north of the Potomac. The Federals, however, refused to withdraw, forcing Lee into a quandary.

Believing that Union forces were in "a very demoralized and chaotic condition" following their defeat at Second Manassas in Virginia, and that Union General George B. McClellan was "an able general but a very cautious one," Lee decided to divide his army into four parts. Special Orders 191 contained all the operational details: three separate columns totaling almost 23,000 men would march on Harpers Ferry, surround the place, and capture or destroy the Union garrison there. With that mission accomplished, Lee's entire army would reassemble at Boonsboro, Maryland - 20 miles north of Harpers Ferry. Lee selected Major General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson to lead the assault on Harpers Ferry.

German immigrant Frederick Roeder was a prosperous baker, the father of seven children. 1861was not turning out to be a good year for Mr. Roeder. In March Roeder buried his wife, Anna Maria; the following month Civil War erupted, Virginia seceded and soon after Harpers Ferry became a war zone--businesses collapsed and the local economy crashed.

The Fourth of July was normally a day of celebration, but not this year--not 1861. A Union sympathizer, Roeder longed to catch a glimpse of the United States flag flying on the Maryland shore. Venturing out to the Potomac River, he gazed across at the Stars and Stripes, only to be struck down by a ricocheting bullet fired by a Union soldier. He crawled back to his home, where he died.

Roeder was the first townsperson to die during the war. His home, business and other property were confiscated by the Union Army for use as a military bakery, post office and headquarters.

His orphaned children abandoned their home, but returned a year later and lived here until 1881. They filed claims with the government for extensive wartime damage to this house and other family property. They were finally approved for compensation of $504.00 in 1906.

The enticing smell of bread, cakes, candies, and pies undoubtedly attracted many customers to Frederick Roeder’s Confectionery, making it a prosperous business from 1845 to 1861. In addition to his store, it is reported that he carried small pies to the train station to sell to hungry passengers before the days of dining cars. By 1856 Roeder was so successful that he enlarged this structure by one and a half stories, creating much needed space for his business and family of 7 children. Thriving in his adopted homeland, this German baker turned skills from his native country into sumptious treats for his friends, neighbors and community.

Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois broke new ground on many frontiers in his remarkable and controversial life. Du Bois earned the first Harvard doctorate awarded to an African American. During a prolific career of writing and publication, including sixteen thought-provoking books on sociology, history, politics, and race relations, Du Bois became the principal architect of the civil rights movement in the United States. He perceptively said, “The problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color-line.”

Du Bois’ connection to Harpers Ferry began in Canada in 1905, when he became the leader of an elite group of African Americans known as the Niagara Movement. The formation of this group marked the beginning of Du Bois’ public assault on racial discrimination. The next year the Niagara Movement met on the campus of Storer College in Harpers Ferry. Du Bois referred to the 1906 gathering as “one of the greatest meetings American Negroes ever held.” Du Bois returned to Harpers Ferry 44 years later as the commencement speaker for the 1950 graduating class of Storer College.

Of the four million people freed by the 13th Amendment at the end of the Civil War, most wanted two things—find family members and get an education. A small school in Harpers Ferry soon became a shining example of educational outreach and accomplishment. What began as a one-room missionary school for the formerly enslaved grew into a college open to both sexes and all races. The driving force behind the mission school was Nathan Brackett. With his wife and four teachers, all possessed with boundless energy and missionary zeal, and Lockwood House as a base of operations, Brackett set up primary schools throughout the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. By 1867 Brackett supervised 16 teachers and schools for 2,500 students in the Shenandoah Valley. The mission grew despite some stiff local resistance. White people tried everything from mob violence to vandalism and slanderous newspaper articles to pulling political strings to shut down the schools. One teacher wrote, “It is unusual for me to go to the post office without being hooted at and twice I have been stoned on the streets at noonday.” Nothing seemed to stop the teachers and their students from going forward. Fifty years later Nathan Brackett’s daughter, also a teacher, said, “Though storms of misunderstanding might rage outside the gate, within the campus all was calm and quiet. It was a little heaven.”

The Freewill Baptist mission school in Harpers Ferry came to the attention of John Storer, a wealthy businessman in Maine. Storer offered a $10,000 matching grant to the Freewill Baptists. An intense effort to raise donations, mortgage assets and seek government funds added up to $10,000 the day before Storer’s offer expired. Storer College created a safe place for education in a world where none had existed before. It was a place to learn to read and write, to teach others, and to develop marketable skills. By 1869 the college expanded across Camp Hill in Harpers Ferry and added three more government buildings. Fundraising slowly resulted in more campus buildings as enrollment grew and African American teachers and ministers joined the faculty. Of all the benefits that Storer provided to its students, perhaps the most valuable was a sense of community. The college owned land in and around the town and profited from a summer boarding house business. By leveraging funds and selling surplus property to graduates and their families, Storer College enabled 75% of Harpers Ferry’s black citizens to own real estate. In 1892 the school newspaper declared, “When the time comes that the colored people of the South live in their own houses, cultivate their own farms, and read their own ballots, there will no longer be a race problem.” Another valuable sense of community extended far beyond physical property. As one former student put it, “Here you will gain new understanding of community living and of friendships.” Students’ children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren found a haven of hope in the dark days of segregation. Graduates left Storer with the education, training, and perhaps most importantly, a sense of self-worth to make their way in an unsympathetic society.

In 1954, the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board decision ended segregation in public schools. The next year West Virginia’s Board of Education recommended ending the $20,000 annual stipend for Storer. The board preferred to support state sponsored schools that were centrally located with modern buildings and more students, and without debt and religious overtones. Finally, Storer College closed its doors in 1955. The school had provided an education to more than 7,000 students. It’s hard to convey the immense effort it took to open, grow and sustain Storer College for nearly 90 years. Storer is a heroic story of overcoming seemingly insurmountable problems, and it is a testament to the courage, faith, vision and hard work of its founders, administrators, students, alumni and supporters.

A very small school started in 1865 with a straightforward mission: to provide an education to formerly enslaved men and women. For 25 years Storer College was the only school in West Virginia where any person of color could get an education beyond the primary level. In a quiet though important way, Storer symbolized something seldom seen today; the epitome of selflessness and a willingness to sacrifice for the benefit of mankind. The students and staff embodied the Storer College motto:

Many of the former campus' buildings are still within the national park today. Click on the pins on the map to learn more about the buildings of Storer College. Hear alumni of Storer College in their own words. Visit the Storer College National Alumni Association site to learn more about this organization's important work to preserve the legacy and cherish the memories of Storer College and its students.

Born July 29, 1900, in Piedmont, West Virginia, to a music teacher and a vocalist, Donald Matthew Redman was destined to make music. Redman played the trumpet by the age of three and all wind instruments by the time he was twelve.

In 1916, Redman came to Storer College. During his four years here Don Redman was an involved and energetic student with talents that extended well beyond music. Along with being in the college band, chorus, and jazz orchestra, he was a member of the college debating society, and a regular participant in oratorical competitions. He also played on the college baseball, basketball teams and was the quarterback of the football team.

While at Storer, Don was under the musical tutelage of longtime band master, John Wesley McKinney as well as Charlotte May Nason and Carlotta Stevens Slater, both graduates of the New England Conservatory of Music. The music department was quite active and the students often performed in various locations throughout the community. During Don’s years here the music students made annual pilgrimages to the M.E. Church in Martinsburg and the Wainwright Baptist Church in Charlestown for concerts. As a student, Don wrote and performed many original compositions including, “Lilly of the Valley” and “Victory”. In 1919, Don was one of two juniors to be awarded the Metcalf Scholarship for academic excellence. That year he also received an honorable mention in the Storer College newspaper for his oratorical offering entitled “The Power of Music”. His most lasting musical contribution was the composition of the “Storer College Alma Mater” that endured throughout the history of the college.

Redman graduated from Storer College in 1920, but he didn’t forget his Alma Mater. His love and affection for his college was evident through his actions. In the spring of 1921 Storer was engaged in a fundraising effort, the “Three Thousand Dollar Drive”. Don returned to Storer with former student Clarence Martin and presented a successful fundraising concert with all proceeds going to the college. During this concert, Don demonstrated his musical versatility by performing on the piano, clarinet, saxophone, and xylophone.

After Storer, Redman joined “Billy Paige’s Broadway Syncopators.” The talented young musician soon caught the ear of well-known band leader Fletcher Henderson. Redman soon joined Henderson’s orchestra, not only writing the band’s arrangements, but also playing the clarinet and saxophone. Because of Redman’s innovative arrangements the group quickly became the most prominent black jazz orchestra in the country.

In 1927 Don Redman became the music director for “McKinney’s Cotton Pickers.” Redman’s arrangements became more elaborate during this time, especially in harmony and rhythm. He formed his own band, the “Don Redman Orchestra,” in 1931. The group stayed together for ten years and became a fixture in Harlem at Connie’s Inn. In 1946 Redman formed an all-star band and they became the first American jazz orchestra to tour Europe after World War II. Following a brief run on television in 1949, Redman became music director for Pearl Bailey and acted with her in the play House of Flowers. In his later years this master jazz arranger and innovator rarely performed in public, preferring to work on several extended compositions that have never been publicly performed. Until his death in November of 1964, Don Redman never stopped making music.

The walls of the Lockwood House enclose a perfect storm of American history. From the Federal armory and its slave-owning officers, through the conflict of the Civil War, Reconstruction and the struggle to educate African Americans in post-war America, through the dramatic events of the first decades of the 20th century, to the unanticipated effects of the 1954 Supreme Court decision to desegregate education, there are within the walls of Lockwood House many stories to tell.

Lockwood House was originally built in 1848 as housing for the Paymaster of the United States Armory and Arsenal.

This new nine-room house became the residence of Paymaster Edward Lucas and his family by December 1848. The Lucas household included five children, although an infant died before 1850. In addition to the Lucas family, the house accommodated one enslaved woman and two enslaved children. Mrs. Lucas died on September 1, 1849. Edward Lucas remained in the house until he died in 1858. That year, an entire story was added to the house, constructed more modestly than the first.

During the Civil War, Union and Confederate troops alternately occupied the house. The elaborate two-story porch became an ideal site for a base hospital during the summer of 1862. Labeled the "Clayton Hospital," the large rooms, high ceilings, and airy porch offered a healthy environment for soldiers suffering from camp diseases like dysentery, diarrhea, and various fevers. Wounded Union soldiers were also treated here during the Battle of Harpers Ferry in September 1862. For three months during 1863, Brigadier General Henry H. Lockwood, the Union garrison commander, used the property as his headquarters. Afterward, prisoners, injured soldiers, and Union General Phillip Sheridan used the house as jail, hospital, headquarters, and medical supply storage until the end of the war. The Civil War caused substantial impact on Lockwood House. Military use of the house resulted in graffiti on most walls and on woodwork, removal of mantelpieces and near destruction of the staircase. Contemporary accounts noted that many if not most windows were gone, and shells pierced the roof. In addition, the medical purveyor's office ordered the installation of shelving in the largest first floor room. Much of the damage seems to have been left unrepaired and awaited the Freedman's Bureau missionary teachers in the fall of 1865.

By the fall of 1865, Lockwood House operated as a mission school and living quarters for formerly enslaved men and women run by Reverend Nathan Brackett, a Freewill Baptist minister working with the American Missionary Association and the Freedmen’s Bureau. In 1867, the property began operations as part of the Storer College Normal School, one of the first institutions of higher learning for African Americans in the United States.' Lockwood House provided classrooms, meeting space, and dwelling quarters for Freewill Baptist teachers, then served as classrooms and dormitory for Storer College . In addition to the school-related function, there were several Black families living in the basement for part of the time. Accounts written at the time indicate that the building was in poor condition, and it appears that little money was spent to upgrade the building beyond the most necessary repairs and painting. Painted slate blackboards were added to the northeast rooms. When Storer College was established in 1867, the role of Lockwood House began to change as school functions were relocated to the former Armory Superintendent’s Quarters. Lockwood House became a men’s, then a women’s dormitory. Although the Trustees floated plans to repair and enlarge Lockwood House to accommodate summer boarders and provide dormitory space for additional students, the house remained largely unchanged.

By the early 1880s, Lockwood House served as a boarding facility for both Black and white summer tourists, and two additional stories were constructed to increase room capacity. This provided additional income for the College. During this period, Lockwood House went through profound changes in its appearance and use. The 1883 alteration transformed the building from neoclassical Greek Revival style to High Victorian period Second Empire style. The west double porch was removed and replaced with a one-story porch, which was later extended to wrap around the north side of the building. Two outbuildings constructed on the south side of the house served as kitchen facilities. Electric lights were installed between 1907 and 1912, and bathrooms were updated and expanded in the 1940s. Despite this expansion, Lockwood House lacked a central role in the activities of Storer College. The building became a summer boarding house but served only occasionally as dormitory space for the school. In 1926, summer boarding ended at Lockwood House and the building was either rented out to tenants or stood vacant until the National Park Service acquired it shortly after the school closed in 1955.

In the late 1960s, the NPS restored the exterior of Lockwood House to the Civil War period, removing the 1880s additions. In the interior, the NPS rehabilitated the lower floor and restored two rooms to the circa-1867 period. The remainder of the first and second floor were left as-is. In 2021, the NPS Historic Preservation Training Center completed a historic plaster conservation project. In early 2022, they completed additional preservation work, including reinstalling historic millwork, making floor repairs, and installing some protective surfaces that help show features that highlight the interesting construction chronology within these walls.

Meriwether Lewis relied on the U.S. Armory and Arsenal at Harpers Ferry for guns and hardware that would meet the unique requirements of his transcontinental expedition. ( List of inventory acquired at Harpers Ferry .) On March 16, 1803, Lewis arrived in Harpers Ferry with a letter from Secretary of War Henry Dearborn addressed to Armory superintendent Joseph Perkins:

Sir: You will be pleased to make such arms & Iron work, as requested by the Bearer Captain Meriwether Lewis and to have them completed with the least possible delay.

In addition to procuring 15 rifles, 15 powder horns, 30 bullet molds, 30 ball screws, extra rifle and musket locks, gunsmith's repair tools, several dozen tomahawks, and 24 large knives, Lewis also attended to the construction of a collapsible iron boat frame of his own design. The strange craft was comprised of an iron frame which came apart in sections, over which was stretched a covering of hide. Lewis expected that a light, substitute boat of some kind would be needed when the Missouri River got too shallow for the heavy wooden boats to navigate. The Armory mechanics assigned to the project, however, had considerable difficulty assembling the iron frame, and Lewis was forced to prolong his Harpers Ferry stay from the week he had planned to over a month. On April 20, 1803, Lewis wrote President Jefferson:

My detention at Harper's Ferry was unavoidable for one month, a period much greater than could reasonably have been calculated on; my greatest difficulty was the frame of the canoe, which could not be completed without my personal attention to such portions of it as would enable the workmen to understand the design perfectly. –My Rifles, Tomahawks & knives are already in a state of forwardness that leaves me little doubt of their being in readiness in due time.

Lewis and the Armory mechanics finally finished the iron frame, and Lewis conducted a "full experiment" on two sections of the unusual canoe. To his satisfaction, he found the iron and hides in these two sections weighed only 99 pounds and could carry a load of 1,770 pounds. Altogether, the complete iron frame (without hides) weighed just 176 pounds and could carry a load of 8,000 pounds.

On April 18, 1803, Lewis finally departed Harpers Ferry to attend to other pressing matters in Lancaster and Philadelphia, Pa. Eleven weeks later, on July 7, Lewis returned to Harpers Ferry. The following day he wrote President Jefferson:

Yesterday, I shot my guns and examined the several articles which had been manufactured for me at this place; they appear to be well executed.

Securing a driver, team, and wagon to haul his large supply of weapons and articles to Pittsburgh, Pa., Lewis departed Harpers Ferry for the last time on July 8, 1803. ( Route of Meriwether Lewis from Harpers Ferry, Va. to Pittsburgh, Pa. ) Although there would only be one skirmish in which weapons were used against Indians, the arms procured at Harpers Ferry kept Lewis and his men fed for 28 months, and several of the tomahawks served well as "Indian Presents."

In 1819, John H. Hall, a New England gunmaker, signed a contract with the War Department to produce 1,000 breechloading rifles – a weapon he had designed and patented in 1811. Under the terms of the contract Hall came to Harpers Ferry, where he occupied an old Armory sawmill along the Shenandoah River. The site soon became known as Hall's Rifle Works, and the small island on which it stood was called Lower Hall Island. Hall spent several years tooling new workshops and perfecting precision machinery for producing rifles with interchangeable parts – a boldly ambitious goal for an industry which was traditionally based on the manual labor of skilled craftsmen.

In a letter to Secretary of War John Calhoun on December 20, 1822, Hall described his recent accomplishments at Harpers Ferry:

I have succeeded in an object which has hitherto completely baffled (notwithstanding the impressions to the contrary which have long prevailed) all the endeavors of those who have heretofore attempted it – I have succeeded in establishing methods for fabricating arms exactly alike, & with economy, by the hands of common workmen, & in such manner as to ensure a perfect observance of any established model, & to furnish in the arms themselves a complete test of their conformity to it.

During his two decades at Harpers Ferry, Hall developed and constructed drop-hammers, stock-making machines, balanced pulleys, drilling machines, and special machines for straight-cutting, lever-cutting, and curve-cutting. Hall's straight-cutting machine was the forerunner of today's versatile milling machine, and a critical tool used in the fabrication of precision metal firearm components.

Hall's success at Harpers Ferry was attested to by Colonel George Talcott of the Ordnance Department, who wrote in 1832 that Hall's "manufactory has been carried to a greater degree of perfection, as regards the quality of work and uniformity of parts than is to be found anywhere – almost everything is performed by machinery, leaving very little dependent on manual labor."

From 1820-1840, John H. Hall devoted his uncompromising attention to the "uniformity principle" of interchangeable manufacture, laying a solid foundation for America's developing factory system right here at Harpers Ferry.

Harpers Ferry familes faced a litany of dangers, including war, disease, alcohol abuse, and poor working conditions. These artifacts depict the drama of common, and some uncommon, local dangers.

Pipe smoking was a common practice in Harpers Ferry homes and taverns, though many disliked the stink of tobacco smoke. King James I of England artfully described his objections to tobacco smoking in his 1604 treatise A Counterblaste to Tobacco: “Smoking is a custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, [and] dangerous to the lungs…” The danger of breathing secondhand smoke in unventilated rooms was recognized, but the effects of regularly smoking unfiltered tobacco was not as well known. Even though public figures often spoke against the habit, many Harpers Ferry residents were keen on smoking! Harpers Ferry archeology sites are riddled with fragments of clay pipes, and merchants regularly advertised the “choicest brands of tobacco” to meet the high local demand.

Object Details: Catalog #HAFE 10781, Clay Tobacco Pipe (Reproduction). Also featured: chewing and packaged smoking tobacco, and red clay/Pamplin pipes that required a reed stem.

Storer College had a dangerous weapon…on the football field! The “Golden Tornado” football team had a record overall of 18 wins, 39 losses, and 7 ties. As a small local team, they were highly celebrated, and known for their sportsmanship. This is the only known image of the first organized team in 1909.

Object Details: Catalog #HAFE 11403, Photograph of Storer College Football Team taken in 1909 (Historic Print). Stats from 1899-1949 available on the College Football Data Warehouse website.

In 1859, John Brown brought these pikes into town during his raid on the U.S. Armory. Brown intended to arm enslaved African Americans with pikes, which were cheaper than firearms and more easily hidden and transported. The archaic pike weapon evoked fear in many, and they became one of the major symbols of John Brown’s raid.

Object Details: Catalog #HAFE 4063, John Brown Pike (Bottom, Original). Also featured: Top- HAFE 56 Staff from original Pike; HAFE 2894 Original inscribed Pike; HAFE 234294 Early 20th Century reproduction Pike souvenir.

Disease was a common danger in the 19th Century home, and keeping a clean house was essential to a healthy family. When your cow was hanging out on the back porch, you may, however, have a problem. Though Harpers Ferry families often kept their chickens, goats, pigs, and cows nearby, the local ordinances prohibited them from running free inside city limits. In fact, each household was only allowed one dog per house because even dogs had become a nuisance. Local laws against the keeping animals in cramped pens, or roaming free, was part of the city’s efforts to tackle health and sanitation issues.

Object Details: Catalog #HF-33, “Street Scene-Harpers Ferry-High St.” ca.1878. Harpers Ferry NHP Historic Photograph Collection. Modern “Then and Now” image shows the historic photo in context.

In 1878, the mechanized carousel display case in Alfred Burton’s jewelry store proved to be a dangerous device. The local paper reported that his “mechanical contrivance” was “having a bad effect on the brain of people who are obliged to look in the window.” The poor shop owner was chastised for bringing the latest retail technology to town!

Object Details: Catalog #HAFE 167639, Watch display case (Reproduction). The editorial is in the Spirit of Jefferson, 11/05/1878.

Fires are regularly reported in the local Harpers Ferry newspapers. It was very dangerous to live near an Armory factory that had fires going all day, and a railroad that had coal sparks shooting from the engines near your home. The open fire hearth in your home was another place to be careful. This historic newspaper article shows an intentionally set fire, started by Federal troops when they evacuated the town in 1861. They burned the main Arsenal, where thousands of guns were stored, so that the Confederates would not get the weapons! The image shows how local residents helped to put out the fire.

Well into the early 20th century, many Harpers Ferry homes still had outhouses, and no indoor plumbing. They were far behind in the late 19th century trend of installing indoor plumbing to create a sanitary environment. If you didn’t have indoor plumbing, you generally used a chamber pot at night to collect “night soil.” Park archeological studies of town privies (toilet) soils reveal that townspeople often suffered from intestinal parasites. The generally late adoption of indoor plumbing contributed to the dangerous unsanitary uses of “night soil” as fertilizer in kitchen gardens, or as waste thrown in the streets and yards.

If you suffered from any of the common local ailments, such as intestinal parasites, consumption, typhoid, or cholera, you of course visited your local pharmacy or Dry goods store for a quick cure! The alcohol content alone was so high in many of the patent medicines, that you were sure to feel good in no time. Or, you would be poisoned by the remedy. One of the most commonly prescribed medicines was “Blue Mass” pills. Containing numerous ingredients of varying quantities including glycerol, rose honey and althea, the main ingredient of these pills was Mercury. The ingestion of a normal daily dose of blue pills would be equal to ingesting over 100 times the recommended amount of mercury per day. Mercury poisoning commonly developed as a result of this treatment.

Object Details: Catalog #HAFE 16672 Medicine bottles (Reproductions), and an original Pill Machine.

“Always be prepared for a flood” could be the Harpers Ferry town motto. In the 19th Century, there were five major floods that reached the doors of John Brown’s Fort (a.k.a the U.S. Armory Fire Engine and Guardhouse). These original Fort doors are a testament to the ability of Harpers Ferry residents to overcome the dangers of flooding, and thrive.

Object Details: Catalog #HAFE 33893 Original photograph of John Brown’s Fort during the 1889 flood, and #HAFE 11245, the original Fort doors that survived four major floods.

You may not consider a skillet dangerous, but in the hands of a local Harpers Ferry resident in August, 1913, a humble kitchen skillet became a weapon. The local newspaper reported that a couple on Church St. was “drunk as usual…” and had a “bigger fight than usual…” involving a hot skillet, and a bread knife!

Object Details: Catalog # HAFE 10692 (Reproduction). Newspaper article is in the Spirit of Jefferson, 8/12/1913.

As champion and first president of the Patowmack Company – formed to complete river improvements on the Potomac and its major tributaries – George Washington traveled to Harpers Ferry during the summer of 1785. For two days, Washington's party carefully inspected the river here to determine the need for bypass canals and sluices.

Here we breakfasted [at Harpers Ferry]; after which we set out to explore the Falls below; & having but one Canoe, Colo. Gilpin, Mr. Rumsay (who joined us according to appointment last Night) and Myself, embarked in it, with intention to pass thro' what is called the Spout (less than half a mile below the ferry) but when we came to it, the Company on the shore on acct. of the smallness, and low sides of the Vessel, dissuaded us from the attempt, least the roughness of the Water, occasioned by the rocky bottom, should fill, & involve us in danger. To avoid the danger therefore we passed through a narrow channel on the left, near the MarylandShore and continued in the Canoe to the lower end of Pains falls distant, according to estimation 3 Miles. (From the Diaries of George Washington, August 7th, 1785).

Nine years later, in 1794, Washington used his familiarity with Harpers Ferry to champion the site for a new federal armory and arsenal.

Signs of love and affection in 19th century Harpers Ferry can be found in the artifacts cherished and shared between loved ones.

In 1859, Isaac Gilbert was enslaved to an elderly Harpers Ferry widow, but his wife and three children were enslaved by the family of Dr. James Logie outside of Harpers Ferry. To keep his family together, Gilbert wished to buy their freedom.

As an enslaved person, the law viewed Gilbert as someone's property. Enslaved people could not own property even when that "property" was a family member. Gilbert had an arrangement with his enslaver in which Gilbert kept some of the money that his enslaver made off of renting out Gilbert's labor. Gilbert also sought help from the town's mayor, Fontaine Beckham. Beckham agreed to buy the Gilbert family from Dr. Logie using Isaac Gilbert's money. Beckham further agreed to free the Gilbert family and recorded a will in the county courthouse that stated that upon his death, the family of Isaac Gilbert would be freed. Over a number of years, Gilbert was able to earn $1,400 for his family's freedom, and Fontaine Beckham kept his part of the deal by purchasing the Gilbert family.

The local doctor, Dr. Marmion, kept a patient ledger that records all the treatments given to the young Gilbert family. This personal medical record gives us a rare glimpse into the health of a family that thrived as free citizens of Harpers Ferry.

Object Details: Catalog #HAFE 7035, Dr. Nicholas Marmion’s patient ledger entry for Isaac Gilbert and his family.

Thomas Jefferson said the view from Jefferson Rock is worth a voyage across the Atlantic. Countless visitors agree, and the spot is a popular location for loved ones to enjoy a peaceful moment as they gaze at the stupendous view. Some locals even called this beloved spot “kissing rock!”

Object Details: Catalog #HAFE 4962, Historic photograph of a group outing at Jefferson Rock, ca. 1890. The copy of this photo is shown in the original location where it was taken. Thomas Lovett, the builder of the Hilltop House Hotel in Harpers Ferry, is in the bottom row seated with his hat in his lap.

I cannot exist without some object of Love ~ Lord Byron to Lady Melbourne, 9 November 1812

Reciting and reading the works of great poets was a common pastime in the 19th century home. In fact, local newspapers regularly published poetry authored by Harpers Ferry residents. Considered the “bad boy” and leading figure in the Romantic Movement, Lord Byron’s poetical works were a must-read for the budding romantic and poet.

If you wished to impress your lady or gent, a stop into the local Jewelry Shop would do the trick. Perhaps she would favor a gold ring, or he might like that Tiffany & Co. collar stud. I like the compass pocket watch fob- What do you fancy?

Object Details: Catalog #HAFE 167451 1870’s style engagement ring. Also featured is the Tiffany and Co. collar stud, Catalog # HAFE 167827.

If a husband wished to save his wife from the toil of hand-sewing many of the family clothes, he would have purchased her the latest mechanical device: a sewing machine!

#6: “Think of Me” “Think of Me” is painted in gold on this charming cup meant for a loved one. Also called Victorian sentiment china, these delightful cups give us a peek into how people expressed affection.

#7: Portrait of your Hero “This was a prized picture of your grandfather’s , Capt. Charles Conner, 7th Md. Reg., Co. J.” This small token of affection for his hero passed down through the Conner family, along with letters from Capt. Conner.

Object Details: Catalog #HAFE 5116, Lithograph CDV of General George McClellan and his wife, ca.1864.

#8: A Favorite Toy We do not know the name of the little girl depicted in this photo, but we can see that she loved something enough to hold onto it: her doll. It’s not hard to imagine that she wanted her favorite toy captured forever in this ca. 1855 photo.

Object Details: Catalog #HAFE 3993, Daguerreotype image of young girl with doll, ca. 1855.

#9: Supper for Two In this 1850s Harpers Ferry middle-class home, a romantic dinner for two awaits you! The menu includes some foods you may recognize: roasted turkey, nuts, cheese, tavern biscuits, and asparagus.

For dessert, however, we might enjoy a nice cider cake (spice cake), or bird’s nest pudding (baked apples with filling).

#10: Shellwork Shells appear in a variety of 19th century decorative objects, including the wildly popular “sailor valentines.” This “bridal basket” was likely given as a gift to a new bride, or made by a friend or suitor to show affection.

The basket is on display in our Harper House exhibit, inside the parlor of a middle class home. Shellwork collectables and crafting with shells has become popular again it seems, and artists can look at museum shellwork collections for inspiration!

On October 25, 1783, Thomas Jefferson visited Harpers Ferry, viewing "the passage of the Patowmac though the Blue Ridge" from a rock that now bears his name. In 1785, Jefferson's description of this view was published in the Notes on the State of Virginia:

"The passage of the Patowmac through the Blue Ridge is perhaps one of the most stupendous scenes in Nature. You stand on a very high point of land. On your right comes up the Shenandoah, having ranged along the foot of the mountain a hundred miles to seek a vent. On your left approaches the Patowmac in quest of a passage also. In the moment of their junction they rush together against the mountain, rend it asunder and pass off to the sea. The first glance of this scene hurries our senses into the opinion that this earth has been created in time, that the mountains were formed first, that the rivers began to flow afterwards, that in this place particularly they have been so dammed up by the Blue Ridge of mountains as to have formed an ocean which filled the whole valley; that, continuing to rise, they have at last broken over at this spot and have torn the mountain down from its summit to its base. The piles of rock on each hand, but particularly on the Shenandoah, the evident marks of their disruptions and avulsions from their beds by the most powerful agents in nature, corroborate the impression:

"But the distant finishing which nature has given the picture is of a very different character. It is a true contrast to the former. It is as placid and delightful as that is wild and tremendous. For the mountains being cloven asunder, she presents to your eye, through the cleft, a small catch of smooth blue horizon, at an infinite distance in that plain country, inviting you, as it were, from the riot and tumult roaring around to pass through the breach and participate in the calm below. Here the eye ultimately composes itself; and that way, too, the road happens actually to lead. You cross the Patowmac above the junction, pass along its side through the base of the mountain for three miles, the terrible precipice hanging in fragments over you, and within about 20 miles reach Frederictown and the fine country around that. This scene is worth a voyage across the Atlantic."

1748. According to local legend, floodwaters drove Robert Harper from the log cabin he had acquired from Peter Stephens.

1753. "The Pumpkin Flood," so named for the great numbers of pumpkins washed down from the gardens of nearby Indian villages.

1852. The greatest flood since the first settlers arrived at Harpers Ferry. Waterpower dams on the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers suffered considerable damage.

1870. (September 30-October 1). The Shenandoah River rose so rapidly that residents were trapped on Virginius Island. Floodwaters swept away much of the island's homes and industry and claimed 42 lives at Harpers Ferry.

1877. (November 25). High water caused considerable damage to the C&O Canal and closed the old Shenandoah Canal for good. The flood crest was 29.2 feet.

1889. (June 1). The rivers rose to a record height – 34.8 feet – destroying the Shenandoah wagon bridge and forcing the Child & McCreight flour mill on Virginius Island to close for good.

1896. (October 1). One of the worst floods in the town's history. The rivers crested at 33.0 feet.

1924. (May 3). Floodwaters swept away three spans from the Bollman highway bridge across the Potomac River and permanently closed the C&O Canal. The rivers rose to 27.6 feet.

1936. (March 18-19). 36½ feet – the all-time record crest at Harpers Ferry. The Bollman highway bridge and Shenandoah bridge were swept away for good, while many businesses in the Lower Town were left in ruins.

1942. (October 16). All-time record crest for the Shenandoah Valley. Floodwaters reached 33.8 feet in Lower Town Harpers Ferry.

1972. (June 23). Floodwater from Hurricane Agnes swelled to 29.7 feet here but caused relatively little damage.

1985. (November 5-6). The Potomac and Shenandoah rivers crested at 29.8 feet in Lower Town Harpers Ferry, leaving behind several inches of mud.

1996. January 20-21 : Rain and snowmelt from the record Blizzard of January 1996 – which dumped more than two feet of snow in the valleys of the Potomac and Shenandoah – caused the rivers to rise to 29.4 feet in Lower Town Harpers Ferry. September 8 : Devastating rains from the remnants of Hurricane Fran fell across the Shenandoah and Potomac river basins. The rivers rose to 29.8 feet, marking the first time in the town's history that two floods in excess of 29 feet have occurred in a single year.

The route which Meriwether Lewis traveled from Harpers Ferry, Virginia to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, between July 8 and July 15, 1803, has not been well documented. 1 The only primary source we have is a letter Lewis penned to President Jefferson from Harpers Ferry on July 8, 1803:

General Edward Braddock Among the earliest records we have for travel over this general route come from the march of Gen. Edward Braddock’s British expeditionary force, which was sent to clear the French out of the Ohio country in the spring of 1755. 3 On May 2, 1755, Sir Peter Halkett’s 44th Regiment crossed the Blue Ridge at Vestal’s [ Keys ] Gap, about six miles south of present-day Harpers Ferry. Halkett’s troops marched through Charlestown [ Charles Town, W.Va. ], proceeded southwest through Smithfield [ Middleway, W.Va. ], then turned south to Abril’s Ford on Opequon Creek. On May 4, Halkett’s troops forded Opequon Creek and rested at Littler’s Tavern [ Brucetown, Va. ].

At Littler’s Tavern, Halkett’s 44th Regiment was joined by Col. Thomas Dunbar’s 48th Regiment, which had forded the Potomac River at Williams Ferry [ Williamsport, Md. ] and proceeded south along the “Waggon Road” [ Valley Turnpike or U.S. Route 11 ]. Gen. Edward Braddock, accompanied by 23-year-old George Washington, forded the Potomac River at Swearingen’s Ferry [ Shepherdstown, W.Va. ] and joined the 44th and 48th Regiments at this same place.

From Littler’s Tavern, the 44th and 48th Regiments marched west through Cedar Grove, across Babbs Run, and over Hunting Ridge to present-day Gainesboro, Va., hauling with them 29 pieces of artillery, 407 wagons, 400 pack horses, and a herd of livestock. This route, which appears on an 1863 map prepared by the U.S. Army, passed about six miles north of Winchester, Va. 4

Braddock’s force continued west through Cross Junction, camped near present-day Whiteacre, crossed Big Timber Ridge, and bivouacked on land owned by Henry Enoch and surveyed in 1750 by George Washington [ Forks of Cacapon, W.Va. ]. In what was described as the most difficult stretch of the entire march to the Ohio River, Braddock’s army crossed Spring Gap Mountain near present-day Slanesville, W.Va. Dunbar’s 48th Regiment reached Wills Creek [ Cumberland, Md. ] on May 10, 1755. Halkett’s 44th Regiment arrived there on May 16.

“Braddock’s Road” and its subsequent incarnations as the Cumberland Road or National Road [ U.S. Route 40 ] has been well-documented between Cumberland, Md., and the Monongahela and Ohio rivers in western Pennsylvania. On May 30, 1755, Braddock dispatched 600 men under the command of Maj. Russel Chapman to clear a road 12 feet wide west from Fort Cumberland. This road closely followed the Nemacolin Indian trail, which had been blazed by the Ohio Company in 1753. 5

Braddock’s Road passed through the present-day towns of Frostburg, Md., Grantsville, Md., Addison, Pa., Somerfield, Pa., and Farmington, Pa., before veering away from Nemacolin’s trail. The road continued north through Connellsville to McKeesport, Pa. on the Monongahela River, just south of Fort Duquesne [ Pittsburgh, Pa. ]. It was near here, in a place subsequently named Braddock’s Field, that Gen. Edward Braddock was defeated and mortally wounded by the French and their Indian allies on July 9, 1755.

French and Indian War The defeat of Gen. Braddock and retreat of the British expeditionary force from western Pennsylvania threw the western Virginia frontier into turmoil. On August 14, 1755, Virginia governor Robert Dinwiddie appointed George Washington Colonel of the Virginia Regiment and Commander in Chief of the Virginia forces. Washington made Winchester, Va. his headquarters, and the roads and trails west of Winchester became essential conduits for moving men, supplies, and couriers to and from the western Virginia frontier.

One of Washington’s first acts was to order a stockade and fort built on the east side of Patterson’s Creek about 14 miles south of Fort Cumberland [Cumberland, Md.] . Fort Ashby, as this outpost became known, served to protect the main line of supply between Winchester and Fort Cumberland. 6 A smaller fort, called Fort Capon or Enoch’s, was erected along this same supply route at the forks of the Cacapon River [ Forks of Cacapon, W.Va. ]. Traffic along this wagon road reached a peak during the last half of 1758 as the British campaign to capture Fort Duquesne proceeded across western Pennsylvania and began to draw supplies from western Virginia.

When the hostilities of the French and Indian War came to a close in 1764, Fort Ashby was probably abandoned. In the late 1700s and early 1800s, however, the site remained a bustling transportation link on the wagon road from Winchester to the Ohio River, and on December 5, 1787, the town of Frankfort was founded on the site of Fort Ashby. A local historian later wrote:

Before the completion of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad [in 1854] Frankfort was on the direct route from Winchester to Wheeling over which hundreds of tons of merchandise passed monthly. It was the long wagon trains passing over this route that furnished business for two hotels in Frankfort. Many times has the Public Square been crowded over night with canvas covered wagons loaded with valuable merchandise. 7

Whiskey Insurrection The importance of the wagon road from Winchester, Va., west to the Monongahela River was again documented during the Whiskey Insurrection of 1794. On Saturday, October 4, 1794, the “infantry and light Corps” of the Virginia militia departed Winchester to support the militias of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey in suppressing the Whiskey Insurrection in western Pennsylvania. 8 Among the Virginia militiamen was Meriwether Lewis, who mustered in as a private in T. Walker’s volunteer corps. Lewis and his fellow Virginians assembled at Winchester, and on October 4, 1794, he wrote his mother from their camp. 9

Dr. Robert Wellford and the Volunteer Troop of Fredericksburg Cavalry followed the infantry, departing Winchester on the morning of October 6. Wellford documented the march in his diary:

October 6: “Rinkers, 9 miles” [ Gainesboro, Va. ] 10 October 7: “a little beyond Copsyes,” at the “Black horse of John Coxey”, “17 miles” [ Forks of Cacapon, W.Va. ] 11 ; “Crocks, 5 miles further” [ unknown, but possibly “Cross Roads” or Slanesville, W.Va. ] October 8: “Springfield, 17 miles from Crock’s” [ Springfield, W.Va. ] October 9: “Frankfort, 7 miles, where we had a most comfortable breakfast at McMeekins Tavern” [ Fort Ashby, W.Va. ]; “Fort Cumberland, 14 miles, making a journey of Sixty nine miles from Winchester.” [ Cumberland, Md. ] 12

The main body of Virginia militia camped and rested for several days at Frankfort. On October 17-18, 1794, Gen. George Washington, who had accompanied the Maryland militia to Fort Cumberland, wrote:

Understood that about 500 more were at a little Village on the Virginia side, 11 Miles distant, called Frankfort, under the command of Majr. Genl. Morgan; that 700 more had arrived at that place the evening of the 18th. undr. Brigr. Mathews and 500 more were expected in the course of a few days under Colo. Page and That the whole were well supplied with Provns., Forage & Straw. 13

Meriwether Lewis undoubtedly camped with the rest of the Virginia militia at Frankfort. On Thursday, October 23, 1794, the Maryland and Virginia militia forces finally moved west from Fort Cumberland, following closely the route of Braddock’s Road. Dr. Robert Wellford documented the route:

October 23: “Fort Cumberland to Strickers, 11 miles” October 24: “to Tomlinson’s, at the little Meadows, 11 miles” [ east of Grantsville, Md. ] 14 October 26: “the Infantry & artillery proceeded to Simkins’s, & the Cavalry as far as Mountains & Augustines. The distance from Tomlinson’s at the little Meadows to the little crossings of Youghogany River, 3 miles, from the little crossings to Simkins, where the Commander in Chief made his Head Quarters, 8 miles, & from thence to Mountain’s hovel & Augustine’s hog stye, making a progress of 18 miles this day.” [ vicinity of Negro Mountain ] October 28: “Left this detestable part of America, & proceeded to the great crossings of the Youghogany (three miles).” [ Somerfield, Pa. ]. “Soon after landing, the Army proceeded about Clark’s five miles, but Major [George] Lewis & myself went on to Bells, 12 miles.” [ Farmington, Pa. ] October 30: “At noon this day passed over the Laurel hill.” Viewed “a small Town called Beesom Town alias Union Town. Into this Town, 12 miles from Bells, we entered about dining time.” [ Uniontown, Pa. ] 15

Orders issued by commander-in-chief Major General Henry Lee at Union Town on November 2, 1794, provide considerable detail on the disposition on the militia regiments in western Pennsylvania on the following days:

“The army will resume its march on the morning of the 4th, at the hour of eight, when a signal gun will be fired. They will advance in two columns composed of the respective wings. The right column will take the route by Lodge’s to Budd’s ferry, [ 24 miles north of Uniontown on the Youghiogeny River, south of present-day West Newton, Pa. ] under the command of his excellency [Pennsylvania] governor [Thomas] Mifflin, who will please take the most convenient situation in the vicinity of that place for the accommodation of the troops, and wait further orders. The left column will proceed on the route to Peterson’s, on the east side of Parkinson’s ferry [ Monongahela, Pa. ], under the orders of major general [Daniel] Morgan; they will march by the left in the following manner:—Light corps, cavalry, artillery, Virginia brigade, Maryland brigade, the baggage to follow each corps, and the public stores of every kind, in the rear of the Virginia brigade. On the first day, the light corps and artillery will march to Washington Bottom [ Perryopolis, Pa. ], fourteen miles; the Virginia brigade to Peterson’s farm, twelve miles; the cavalry under major Lewis, will move with the commander-in-chief—the bullocks to precede the army at daylight. On the second day the column will proceed to the camp directed to be marked out between Parkinson’s and Budd’s ferries.” 16

Dr. Robert Wellford’s journal documents the movements of the Volunteer Troop of Fredericksburg Cavalry over the next several days:

November 5: “The Commander in Chief left this dirty place [ Uniontown, Pa. ] for Brownsville (alias Red-Stone), & all the troops marched out of Town.” [ Brownsville, Pa., is situated on the Monongahela River ]. Dr. Wellford stayed at “Jacksons Mill” one mile north of town. 17 November 7: “Left this place [ Brownsville, Pa. ] with an intention of going to Head Qr’s, & from thence to the other Column of the Army, about 12 miles from Jacksons; found the Commander in Chief at Powers Farm, & slept there. The land in this County Fayette is generally good, with a number of fine farms particularly in the Forks of Yough.” 18 November 10: “The remainder of the Army proceeded to cross the Monongohalia River for Washington County & Alleghany County. Mercer, Glassell & myself crossed at Parkinsons Ferry.” [ Monongahela. Pa. ] 19

November 10 was the last entry in Dr. Wellford’s diary until Saturday, November 22, 1794, when his party commenced upon their return trip to Virginia. Subsequent entries in his diary indicate that Wellford had visited Pittsburgh, but he provided no details on his travel routes.

An 1803 travel account by Thaddeus Mason Harris also describes a primary northsouth road across this area, passing from Elizabethtown to Pittsburgh along the present-day path of Pa. Route 51. 21 Howell’s map shows this same route, passing north from “Elizabeth T.” and terminating immediately south of “Pittsburg” at the confluence of the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers.

It took Gen. Edward Braddock’s British expeditionary force approximately two months, from May 2 - July 9, 1755, to complete its march from the Blue Ridge Mountains near present-day Harpers Ferry to Fort Duquesne [Pittsburgh, Pa.]. In 1794, it took the Virginia militia just over a month to make the same journey. Excluding rest days, the march took 12 days to reach the area around present-day Monongahela, Pa. – about 26 miles south of Pittsburgh. It took Meriwether Lewis just eight days to make the journey in 1803, departing Harpers Ferry around 1:00 p.m. on July 8, and arriving in Pittsburgh at 2:00 p.m. on July 15. Upon his arrival at Pittsburgh, Lewis wasted no time in sending a letter off to President Jefferson, in which he wrote:

Based upon Meriwether Lewis’ July 8, 1803 letter to Jefferson, in which he stated he would be “taking the route of Charlestown, Frankfort, Uniontown and Redstone old fort to Pittsburgh,” there can be little doubt that he followed the well-established routes documented in this paper: from Harpers Ferry, W.Va. to Winchester, Va.; from Winchester to Cumberland, Md.; from Cumberland to Brownsville, Pa.; and from Brownsville to Pittsburgh by way of the ferry crossing at Elizabeth, Pa.

Meriwether Lewis arranged for two wagons to haul his supplies from Pennsylvania and Virginia. One carried supplies from Philadelphia and Lancaster, Pa., and subsequently passed through Harpers Ferry:

The wagon hauling Lewis’ weapons and supplies from the Harpers Ferry Armory departed on July 9 and arrived in Pittsburgh on July 22, taking a total of 13 days to make the journey:

Many believe these wagons traveled by way of Chambersburg, Pa., en route to Pittsburgh along the Forbes Road. However, Lewis likely would have instructed the teamsters he employed to take the route he was personally familiar with through Virginia and Maryland. This route certainly was capable of accommodating Lewis’ heavily-laden wagons. In addition, from Harpers Ferry, the route west along the wagon road from Winchester, Va., to Brownsville, Pa., appears to be a more direct and convenient choice.

However, such a conclusion is merely conjecture, as Lewis gives us no further details on the matter.

From the rolling mountains of the Blue Ridge surrounding the historic town to the rushing waters of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers bordering it, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park has many natural resources to enjoy, along with its rich cultural resources. When visiting the park, hike up to Jefferson Rock and enjoy the view of the water gap where the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers meet, or take a trip up to the Maryland Heights overlook to get an amazing view of Harpers Ferry. While hiking, one will probably notice that the majority of the park is forested. Actually, 70% of the land in the park is covered with eastern deciduous forest, consisting of species such as chestnut oak ( Quercus prinus ), tulip poplar ( Liriodendron tulipifera ), red maple ( Acer rubrum) , spicebush ( Lindera benzoin ), and pawpaw ( Asimina triloba ). Also take time to observe some of the over 170 bird species and more than 30 mammal species in the park. These species include such beauties as the bald eagle ( Haliaeetus leucocephalus ), the red-tailed hawk ( Buteo jamaicensis ), the white-tailed deer ( Odocoeilus virginianus ), and the southern flying squirrel ( Glaucomys volans ).

Harpers Ferry is a natural oasis for visitors and for scientific researchers because of its protected natural landscape. The research done here provides the accurate and current natural resource information we need to provide to best care for the park. Scientists look at what key resources are present in the park, if they are stable or changing, how ecosystems are changing over time, and how much change is normal.

Like a physician monitoring a patient's heartbeat and blood pressure, National Park Service ecologists with the National Capital Region Inventory & Monitoring Network collect long-term data on forest vegetation, bird and amphibian communities, water quality, and other key resources at Harpers Ferry, analyze the monitoring results, and share them with the park. Read more in the articles below about researchers studying nature at Harpers Ferry and nearby national parks.

National Park Service studies show that over 120 species of birds breed, nest, or migrate within Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. Another 60 species may be present but are currently unconfirmed. To learn about the different species of birds at Harpers Ferry, click on the links below to see pages about the different groups of birds. Also check out the NPSpecies list at the bottom of the page. Ask about our kids' bird checklist coloring booklet at the park's information center or visitor center. Don't forget to bring crayons or colored pencils!

Waterfowl are birds that like living by water like rivers, lakes and other bodies of fresh water.

Waterbirds are classified by the way that they obtain almost all or all of their food from the water.

Woodpeckers are part of the family Picidae, a group of near-passerine birds that also consist of piculets, wrynecks, and sapsuckers.

Perching birds includes more than half of all bird species and the name means sparrow-shaped. These birds are also known as the songbirds.

Cormorants are black, reptilian-like, fish eating birds that swim low on the water with their heads up tilted towards the sky.

Kingfishers have large heads, long sharp beaks, and short legs. They generally have bright feathers.

Plants are a very important component of the park since approximately 70% of its land is forested. An overview of plant species follows, but note that distinct upland, lowland, and floodplain vegetation communities are present throughout the park. Numerous fern species including woolly lip fern ( Cheilanthes lanosa ) and marginal shield fern ( Dryopteris marginalis ) occur in the park. Grasses, sedges, and rushes also play a valuable role in the plant communities. Tall brome grass ( Bromus pubescens ) and greenish sedge ( Carex virescens ) are just a few of the local species. Trees such as chestnut oak ( Quercus prinus ) and tulip poplar ( Liriodendron tulipifera ) often dominate the forest canopy; whereas, red maple (Acer rubrum) and hackberry ( Celtis occidentalis ) are frequently scattered through the understory. Common shrub species in the park include spicebush ( Lindera benzoin ) and mountain laurel ( Kalmia latifolia ), while popular wildflowers include Virginia bluebells ( Mertensia virginica ) and wild columbine ( Aquilegia canadensis ).

The park is home to more than 30 mammal species. Some of these, however, such as the American mink ( Mustela vison ) and the short-tailed shrew ( Blarina brevicauda ) are not frequently observed. Hiking the Appalachian Trail up Loudoun Heights, gray and fox squirrels ( Sciurus carolinensis and S. niger ) can be viewed scurrying to stash their food, while eastern chipmunks ( Tamias striatus ) are commonly seen running right along the trail's edge. In a 2001 mammal survey, the southern flying squirrel ( Glaucomys volans ) was found to be making its home within the park. During the early morning hours, white-tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus ) can be found browsing on understory vegetation as hikers make their way to the Maryland Heights overlook. Throughout the day, groundhogs ( Marmota monax ) often peek up from vegetation along almost any roadside within the park, while after dark, Virginia opossums ( Didelphis virginianus ) and raccoons ( Procyon lotor ) are more likely to be encountered in these areas.