Harpers Ferry / John Brown’s Fort

Harpers Ferry, named for Robert Harper, who settled there in 1747 and operated a ferry, was purchased in 1796 as the site of a Federal arsenal and armory, where John Hall first used interchangeable gun parts. Its location on a travel route through a Blue Ridge gap, along with river, canal, and railroad connections, contributed to its growth. John Brown's raid and the Civil War brought the town national attention. After the war, it became the site of Storer College for blacks and of a National Park created in 1944. John Brown's Fort, a U.S. Armory fire engine and guard-house near the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, was used by John Brown and his men during his 1859 raid to free enslaved blacks. It was exhibited in Chicago during the 1893 World's Fair, returned, and in 1909 was erected on the campus of Storer College, West Virginia's first African American college, which operated from 1867 to 1955, before the fort was moved to its present site in 1968.

Lovettsville, Maryland · United States