Harpers Ferry (West Virginia)

Jefferson County

54-35284

Harpers Ferry is a town in Jefferson County in the U.S. state of West Virginia, with 313 inhabitants (2005 ).

It lies at the mouth of the Shenandoah in the Potomac in the triangle of the U.S. states of Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.

Harpers Ferry is historically known especially for the raid of John Brown on October 16, 1859 would spark a slave revolt by this. The slaves should be armed with hand weapons, which had been prepared in the second place located in the state arms factory for the U.S. armed forces. The plan failed. The weapons factory existed from 1799 to April 1861. In order not to let them fall into Confederate hands, lit the fuse, the military buildings before their departure to. The Confederacy is to save the stored weapons and equipment from destruction succeeded.

Harpers Ferry changed twelve times the owner during the American Civil War. 1862, the city was the site of the Battle of Harpers Ferry, in which the Confederates were successful.

Since 1944, Harpers Ferry is part of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. Since 1964, the National Park Service maintains there a training center for natural and cultural interpretation (Stephen T. Mather Training Center ), and since 1970, in a separate building ( Harpers Ferry Center ) all panels and brochures designed for all facilities of the Park Service.

Appalachian Trail

Harpers Ferry is also crossed by the Appalachian Trail National Scenic Trail. The city is an extremely important point to this, because it marks the half of the more than 3,500 -kilometer journey. For this reason, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy is located here, an organization that organizes the maintenance of the road.