Harper's Ferry, West Virginia

The route from the north entrance (exit, in our case) of Skyline Drive/Shenandoah National Park to Gettysburg goes through Harper’s Ferry. We thought it was worth a stop, expecting perhaps a pretty view of the Shenandoah / Potomac River intersection and a historic marker or two.


We were impressed to instead find a 2,500 acre national historic park dedicated to several themes: the environment, 18th-19th century industry and transportation, and of course the Civil War, including John Brown’s 1859 attempted raid of the U.S. armory in town as a first step towards eliminating slavery. A factoid of local interest is that John Brown was born in Torrington Connecticut in 1860 (more information can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brown).

Harper’s Ferry was also a stop for Merriweather Lewis in his preparation for the famous Lewis & Clark expedition.