10. Harpers Ferry, WV

Wednesday, July 17th - Today we toured the town of Harpers Ferry in West Virginia.  This is a small town that dates back to 1761 when Robert Harper established a ferry across the Potomac River.  It is the eastern most town in West Virginia and sits on a spit of land between the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers right where they merge.  It was visited by Thomas Jefferson in 1783 who called the site "one of the most stupendous scenes in nature."  It was also visited by George Washington and it was George in 1794 who chose the site for a national armory and arsenal.  The thing that the town had going for it was lots of water power to run the machinery in the armory.  It was also the downfall of the town as it was subject to flooding that eventually destroyed all of the plants along the river.  The first photo shows the Shenandoah River as it goes by the town.  The second photo shows the Potomac downstream of the merger with the Shenandoah.

The next photo shows Pat standing next to a flood gauge.  The marker way up over her head at the top of the gauge is the height of the 1936 flood.

The 2 main roads are Shenandoah and Potomac which run beside the rivers of the same name.  The next 2 photos show the shops along those streets.

The armory used to be along the banks of the Potomac but there is nothing left but some outlines in the grass that show where they used to be.

What Harpers Ferry is really famous for is John Brown's raid.  John Brown was an radical abolitionist who decided the only way to end slavery was for a revolt that freed the slaves.  In 1859, John and 21 men captured the armory and arsenal and held a lot of hostages.  The local militia and citizenry responded and killed most of Brown's men and forced them to take shelter in the armory fire station which is now called John Brown's fort.

Brown and his 4 remaining men were captured by a contingent of Marines lead by Lt. Col. Robert E. Lee. They were tried and hung.  During the Civil War there were several battles for the town and it changed hands between the Union and the Confederacy a number of times.  Between them both the town sustained severe damage and armory and arsenal were destroyed.

An earlier historical event was the visit by Meriwether Lewis who bought supplies for his expedition with Clark from the town and had some special equipment made for them.

It turns out that Harpers Ferry is the headquarters for the Appalachian Trail and the trail runs right through the center of town.

The other developments that forged the town were the railroad and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.  The railroad is still here but all that is left of the canal is a park and a trail.  The first photo shows the remnants of the old railroad bridge (there is a new one that we walked across).  The second photo shows the remains of the canal with the tow path beside it.  In this area the Appalachian Trail uses the tow path for a short distance.

One of the most popular past times in the area is to raft down the Shenandoah.  David and I did this years ago when we lived in Virginia.  The next photo shows how strenuous this activity is.

Man was it hot.  Hit 98 degrees this afternoon.  The rangers replanned their talks so they could do them in the shade and not spend a lot of time in the sun.  We planned this trip to get out of the heat in Florida.  It never gets this hot in Florida.  Tomorrow we head up to Antietam Battleground and then Gettysburg.