ECW Weekender: Visiting Harpers Ferry
With cooler weather on the way and autumn colors coming soon, it’s a great time to plan some hiking adventures or strolling around a historic town. The ECW editors were looking through the files and calendars, and we found lots of reason to suggest a visit to Harpers Ferry in the coming days or weeks.
Check out these blog post links and special events to start making YOUR list of sites to visit in this West Virginia town:
Hike Maryland Heights to see Civil War era gun placements and a wonderful view of the town.
- Learn about a U.S. Marine who died during John Brown’s Raid…and had a pub named after him.
- How to tour Harpers Ferry with your kids or grandkids!
Harpers Ferry National Historic Park has quite a few special historical programs on their 2018 calendar for the coming weeks. Perhaps you’ll want to save the date?
September 22 – Lives in Limbo: The Contraband Camp in the Shadow of John Brown’s Fort- September 24 – Artifact Sneak Peek (John Brown Museum)
- September 29 – The Enemy Among Us: Defending Harpers Ferry during the War of 1812
- October 1 – History of Archaeology at Harper’s Ferry
- October 13 – Reenacting The Raid
- October 15 – Archaeology and the US Armory Grounds
- October 16 – John Brown and the Night Sky of 1859
For all program details, including time and specific locations please visit the NPS Harpers Ferry Calendar.
It is said that Harpers Ferry changed hands fourteen times during the War of the Rebellion. For a town so frequently and aggressively contested, Harpers Ferry is in remarkable condition, with numerous sites in vicinity worth the two-hour drive from Washington, D.C. (including the Engine House, the Roman Catholic Church, the cavern, and the sites of bridges and arsenal buildings.)
To be remembered, Harpers Ferry is not only noteworthy for John Brown, but was where the Confederate States “acquired” their Springfield Rifle manufacturing equipment (that weapon refered to as Richmond Rifle), and Harpers Ferry was also site of the largest Union surrender during the Civil War (and those 12,000 Paroled prisoners caused unanticipated problems when they reached Annapolis Maryland in September 1862.)
http://www.nps.gov/hafe/learn/index.htm NPS Harpers Ferry