John Brown Fort

Built in 1848 as the fire-engine house for the U.S. Armory, the building later became famous as John Brown's stronghold during the 1859 raid. It was the only armory building to escape destruction during the Civil War of 1861-1865, though souvenir-hunting Union and Confederate soldiers and later travelers vandalized it. In 1891 it was dismantled and transported to the Chicago Exposition, in 1895 it was rescued from conversion into a stable and returned to the Harpers Ferry area for exhibition on a farm, in 1909 Storer College purchased it and moved it to campus, and in 1968 the National Park Service moved it to within 150 feet of its original location.

Lovettsville, Maryland · United States