Harper's Ferry

Harper's Ferry is most famous for the John Brown raid on the Federal Armory in 1859.  John Brown was a fervent abolitionist starting in the days of the division of Kansas and Nebraska into a slave and free state.  His aim in Harper's Ferry was to capture the armory, starting an uprising of slaves throughout the south.  His plan failed, he was arrested and sentenced to death.  This all happened in Virginia, in the part of the state that would soon become West Virginia.  Strangely, until his execution, he was allowed free access to the press and he used that forum to preach his abolitionist message.  His raid, like the Nate Turner Rebellion in 1834, absolutely terrified the people of the south.

The old gun factories are gone but what is left is a beautifully restored 1850's village at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers.

The building in the back is called John Brown's Fort.  It's where he and his co-conspirators took refuge until they were arrested.  It has been moved several times. The marker in the foreground is the original location but about 20 feet higher due to the railroad grade.

  Harper's Ferry

Our wonderful hosts for three nights of baseball, great food and stimulating conversation.  They live near Shepherdstown, West Virginia.  John is a film maker for the National Park Service and Monica is a fourth grade teacher in Shepherdstown.  I met them in 1988 at a training program in South Carolina when we were all on our way to various Peace Corps assignments.  I went to Belize and they went to Honduras.

The Potomac River from the back of John and Monica's property