Lockwood House, Harpers Ferry

Bolivar, Harpers Ferry, WV: This historic building overlooks the Harpers Cemetery and is part of the campus of Storer College. An interpretative sign tells us:

Lockwood House

General Sheridan's headquarters in August, 1864

With its commanding view of Harpers Ferry and the Potomac River gap, this house has witnessed significant chapters in Harpers Ferry's history. It was built in 1847 as quarters for the U.S. Armory paymaster and later served as headquarters for Union Generals Henry H. Lockwood and Philip H. Sheridan during the Civil War.

After the war, Storer Normal School (later college) - one of America's first schools for freed slaves - began here, and for almost a century Black students and Freewill Baptist Church staff utilized this building. Today, its exterior is restored to the Civil War period, but two rooms are furnished as they were during its early Storer College occupancy.

NPS article on Storer College

Hilltop View, Harpers Ferry

Normally Harpers Ferry is a great place to take visitors. At the moment, however, a government shutdown has closed our national parks and that means not only many historic sites in Harpers Ferry are closed, but also the shuttle bus that transports tourists to the historic area is not operating. There is very little parking available in the historic district, although you might find a spot at the train station, and I read that the town has relaxed some of the usual parking restrictions.

We have visited the town a number of times without using the park service bus. There are sites uphill from the the old historic district that are well worth visiting. One is the view point next to the old Hilltop House Hotel. (It's at the end of East Ridge Street. I posted pictures from there early this year.)

Train Crossing the Potomac

Old Hilltop Hotel, Now Closed and Crumbling

Link: Historic Harpers Ferry

A Church on Bolivar Heights

Harpers Ferry, WV

Bolivar Heights is a plateau above the historic town of Harpers Ferry. It is best known as the site of Civil War battles.

Bolivar Methodist Church was occupied by troops for military purposes during the war. 

A little way down the hill, also on Washington Street, is the Harpers Ferry Post Office, a solid-looking building of red brick. 

Sharing with Inspired Sunday.

If you want to tour the historic district of Harpers Ferry, you can park at the National Park Service Visitor Center and take the bus into town. Here we see the park entrance in early November. 

Related Posts: Bolivar Heights in May

Appalachian Trail Conservancy

Harper Cemetery

View from Harper Cemetery, Harpers Ferry, WV

Next to Lockwood House at Harpers Ferry is the old Harper Cemetery, which has a lovely view. Walk down the steps and you may see this sign saying:

Harper Cemetery

Passing through this region in 1747, Robert Harper - a Pennsylvania architect contracted to build a Quaker church in the Shenandoah Valley - was so impressed by the beauty of this place and the water-power potential of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers that he settled here and founded Harpers Ferry.

When Harper died in 1782, there were only three houses in the town. Optimistic about the community's potential for growth, however, Harper had set aside this 4-acre cemetery. Childless, Harper left most of his estate to his niece, Sarah, who subsequently married a Wager. As you wander around the cemetery, you'll find the grave markers of some of Sarah Wager's descendents as well as stones of Irish and German immigrants who settled in this area during the 1830's.

Left: These steps connect the Ridge Trail to the old cemetery.

(I don't know whether Robert Harper was from the same family as my ancestor, Alida Belle Harper.)

Article: The Wonders of Harpers Ferry

More Signs at the Kennedy Farm

Yesterday's post took you to John Brown's hideout in Maryland, the Kennedy Farm. There are two Civil War Trails signs near the entrance to the property that are worth sharing. 

"This is the Kennedy farmhouse, which abolitionist John Brown (using the pseudonym Isaac Smith) leased in July 1859 from Dr. Robert Kennedy's heirs, ostensibly to do some prospecting. Brown's fifteen-year-old daughter, Annie Brown, identified the Kennedy Farm as "Headquarters: War Department." It served as a barracks, arsenal, supply depot, mess hall, debate club, and home to Brown and his fellow conspirators to plan their attack on the U.S. Arsenal at Harpers Ferry, five miles away. Brown's daughter-in-law Martha Brown, sons Owen, Watson, and Oliver Brown, and eighteen other men, five of whom were African American, jammed the house and nearby cabin. Crates marked "mining tools" actually held about 400 rifles and pistols, ammunition, black powder, 1,000 pikes, tools, tents, clothing, and other items a small army needed."

Read the rest of the text on HMDB.

Interesting note: Behind the log house there is a a long white building beyond the trees. I noticed the sign IBPOEW on it. This stands for Improved Benevolent Protective Order of Elks of the World, an African American organization. From 1950 to 1966, they owned and maintained the Kennedy Farm as a shrine to John Brown. They had an auditorium where some big names in music performed, including Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Marvin Gaye, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, B. B. King, Eartha Kitt, Otis Redding, Etta James, the Coasters, and the Drifters. (Source: Wikipedia.)

Although John Brown's attack on Harpers Ferry failed, it accelerated the debate over slavery. The other table-top sign tells the story of Jubal Early's army passing this spot five years later, as the American Civil War raged.

"In June 1864, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee sent Gen. Jubal A. Early's corps from the Richmond battlefield to the Shenandoah Valley to counter Union Gen. David Hunter's army. After driving Hunter into West Virginia, Early invaded Maryland to attack Washington, D.C., draw Union troops from Richmond, and release Confederate prisoners held at Point Lookout. On July 9, Early ordered Gen. Bradley T. Johnson's cavalry brigade eastward to free the prisoners. The next day, Johnson sent Maj. Harry Gilmer's regiment to raid the Baltimore area. Union Gen. Lew Wallace delayed Early at the Battle of Monocacy on July 9. Federal reinforcements soon strengthened the capital's defenses. Early attacked there near Fort Stevens on July 11-12 and then withdrew to the Shenandoah Valley with the Federals in pursuit. He stopped them at Cool Spring on July 17-18. Despite failing to take Washington or free prisoners, Early succeeded in diverting Federal resources.

After abandoning his attempt to capture Harpers Ferry, Confederate Gen. Jubal A. Early and his army crossed the Potomac River a few miles north of here at Blackford's (Boteler's) Ford near Shepherdstown and spread out through the Maryland countryside. On July 6-8, 1864, the Confederates passed by this spot. Gen. John C. Breckenridge's troops were the first to arrive here. Breckinridge, a former vice president of the United States, had contended against Abraham Lincoln in 1860 for the presidency of the United States."

 

Winding Down on Willy Nilly Friday

We're only three weeks into 2021 and we've certainly seen some highs and lows! Our country made it through the attack on the Capitol and the Inauguration, but we are still in the throes of the pandemic. We have lost over 400,000 lives already to Covid-19. Two vaccines are available but there are not enough qualified personnel in our part of Virginia to keep up with the demand. So we wait. 

I haven't been to a restaurant in ages. I go into stores less often and very cautiously. Meetings are done online. Thank goodness we have the internet! 

Well, I can still go for rides and take walks in uncrowded places. It is easy to find them except on weekends when every family seems to be outdoors. 

Yesterday I found Seven Bends State Park to be very quiet. Here's one more picture from there,  more abstract than the others and in Black and White. 

The floral image is from my archives. There are three floral themes I'm linking to: Friday Bliss, Garden Affair, and Floral Friday. 

Looks like I inadvertently returned to the red, white and blue theme I used on Inauguration Day. Well, they are great colors! 

My skywatch shot has a similar color scheme, but with orange tones in the sunset.

The rest of today's pictures are from 1998 on Maryland Heights. This was a hike in the fog from Harpers Ferry to the Civil War fort on the mountain. I don't think I could do that steep hike now so I'm glad I went when I could.

I wanted to share these because Harpers Ferry is one of my favorite places. 

I posed at the overlook that is photographed by everyone who goes up there. You can see the bridges across the Potomac, and the town of Harpers Ferry. The river on the upper left is the Shenandoah and it meets the Potomac at a point that's out of the frame to the left. 

Originally I was going with a group from the NVCC Civil War class. It rained that morning and only two of us showed up. The rain had let up but we the found the heights shrouded in fog. 

I think my lens got fogged up too. The few pictures I took of the old stone walls are blurred by mist. This was 22 years ago and I did not own a digital camera, which would have been extremely expensive then.

The fort was built by Federal troops in 1862.  I think the sign in the final shot shows the 30-Pound Battery. 

My companion on this hike was a classmate and I think his name was John Campbell. In that class we typically knew each other by first name. It was pretty much a series of interpretive trips to Civil War sites and there was no roll call. Anyway, he hiked up the mountain with ease and I struggled to keep up.

Another View from Harpers Ferry

Marie has posted a narrative of our hike at Harpers Ferry on her No Hurry in Jersey City blog. Also see her photo album: Harpers Ferry and Appalachian Trail.

John Brown's Hideout: The Kennedy Farm

Washington County, Maryland

Tuesday Treasures

John Brown

and his associates collected arms and ammunition on the Kennedy Farm (Samples Manor) in Maryland for months prior to the raid on the arsenal at Harpers Ferry, October 17, 1859.

I'm reading a book about John Brown and the Harpers Ferry raid by one of my favorite teachers, Charles P. Poland, Jr.  This got me interested in going back to the Kennedy Farm, which I have visited in the past on field trips with Professor Poland and a history class from Northern Virginia Community College. 

This site is peaceful and remote. Although it is not far from Harpers Ferry as the crow flies, allow plenty of time to get here. The route includes five miles on a winding and narrow road.

In Memoriam
to the Provisional Army of the United States of America and their presence at Kennedy Farm the summer of 1859.

John Brown, 59, hanged

• Annie Brown, 16, sent home • Martha Brown, 17, sent home • John Henry Kagi, 24, killed • Aaron Dwight Stevens, 28, hanged • Owen Brown, 34, escaped • Oliver Brown, 19, killed • Jeremiah Goldsmith Anderson, 26, killed • John E. Cook, 29, hanged • Charles Plummer Tidd, 24, escaped • William Thompson, 26, killed • Dauphin Osgood Thompson, 21, killed • Albert Hazlett, 22, hanged • Watson Brown, 20, killed • Edwin Coppoc, 24, hanged • Barclay Coppoc, 20, escaped • John Anthony Copeland, Jr., 25, hanged • William H. Leeman, 20, killed • Stewart Taylor, 22, killed • Osborn Perry Anderson, 29, escaped • Dangerfield Newby, 44, killed • Lewis Sheridan Leary, 24, killed • Shields Green, 23, hanged • Francis Jackson Meriam, 21, escaped. “

. . . I John Brown am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land: will never be purged away; but with blood. I had as I now think: vainly flattered myself that without very much bloodshed; it might be done . . .” . . . 

It can be said . . . it all started here . . .

John Brown's Fort

Harpers Ferry, WV

This building is famous as the place where John Brown and a group of followers barricaded themselves in their ill-fated raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859. However, it stood in a different spot at that time. It was moved to Chicago for the 1893 World’s Fair, returned to Harpers Ferry in 1895 and moved a couple more times before finally resting on its present site in 1968.

See the Historical Marker.

Shenandoah Pulp Factory

These pictures are from our October visit to Harpers Ferry, WV. These ruins are on Virginius Island just outside of the old town.

Here's what the sign tells us about he old pulp factory:

In 1877-1888, on the former site of the Shenandoah Canal's lower locks, Thomas Savery erected this large mill to provide wood pulp for the paper industry.

Ten turbines, arranged in pairs in the mill's five massive sluiceways, powered wood grinders, rolling machines, and other pulp-making machinery. By the 1920's, Savery's mill had the capacity to produce 15 tons of ground wood pulp daily.

After several unprofitable years, the mill closed in 1935. Within a year the building was destroyed by the record flood of 1936.

Its ruins reveal the last remnant of water-powered industry in Harpers Ferry.

Links: 

• Virginius Island Trail Guide (PDF) 
• Floods at Harpers Ferry

In Front of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy

Last Friday Marie and I went here to get some hiking info. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy Visitors Center is on Bolivar Heights in Harpers Ferry. They have trail information, maps, and some exhibits. I believe that the organization was still called the Appalachian Trail Conference when I was visited the building over two decades ago.

In front of the building on Washington Street is a historical marker titled "Harpers Ferry" which reads:

Named for Robert Harper, who settled here in 1747 and operated ferry. Site purchased for Federal arsenal and armory in 1796. John Hall first used interchangeable gun parts here. Travel route thru Blue Ridge gap, and river, canal, and railroad connections added growth. John Brown's raid and Civil War brought national attention. Post-war site of Storer College for blacks, and National Park, created in 1944.

The View from Jefferson Rock

Looking Toward Harpers Ferry

Shenandoah River

I'd been to Jefferson Rock before but Frank's brother had not and when he visited in early October he expressed an interest in going to Harper's Ferry. One of several scenic points we showed him there was Jefferson Rock, so named because Thomas Jefferson wrote enthusiastically about the view from that spot.

Back in 2010 when Marie and I were here, we hiked up the Appalachian Trail from the parking lot near the Shenandoah River bridge, paused at Jefferson Rock, and then walked down a long flight of steps into the town of Harpers Ferry. It's not a difficult hike, but I took Bill via a less strenuous route starting at Harper's Cemetery. We just walked down the hill and through the woods to the overlook.

Link: Jefferson Rock Historical Marker

A Clock on Javins.com

I checked my site statistics for Javins.com (a site I've had a long time but haven't done much with in recent years). I learned that:

1. Most visitors type in the URL or use a bookmark
2. 5% of the visitors come through searching Google
3. Less than 1% come through Yahoo and Ask Jeeves
4. A similar number come through a blog in Spain called Bitter and Turbulent.

The fourth one surprised me. I checked it out and found out that the writer linked to this clock picture that I posted in 2000 after our trip to Paris.

The giant clock is on the exterior wall of the Musée D'Orsay but I photographed it from the inside. The Musée D'Orsay is a wonderful place, once an ornate train station and now an art museum.

By the way, I checked on what folks are finding on my pages through Google and many of them are looking for Harpers Ferry and John Brown's Raid. I need to redo that page and move it to CivilWarFieldTrips.com. In the meantime, here's a view of Harper's Ferry (below) taken from Maryland Heights. The walk up to the lookout point is fairly steep so even though I'd like to redo that shot on a sunny day, I doubt that I'll force myself up that trail to do it.

Train Station, Harpers Ferry

Although Harpers Ferry is not a large city, it has an Amtrak station with daily passenger service. Commuters use it to travel to Washington, DC.

I've parked near the station more than once. There are a couple of snack shops nearby and historical museums a short walk away. At the moment the museums are closed for the government shutdown. It's not far to shops and a wax museum, but the hilly terrain can turn your walk into a workout.

Are you affected by the government shutdown? Find Your Members of Congress and contact them.

Discovering Sweet Run State Park

Loudoun County

I read that a new state park was open near Purcellville, so a week ago I went to check it out. I ran into heavy traffic on Route 9 because it is the detour for 340 in Harpers Ferry, which is closed for rock slide repairs.  Other than that, the ride was pleasant. 

I came to the Sawmill Road entrance first. It is basically access for horse trailers, but the road looked splendid in fall colors.

I drove back out to Harpers Ferry Road and found the main entrance to the park. The property was obviously a farm at one time. There is a restored farmhouse among other farm buildings.

I was a little puzzled by some things that were new. Our local state park was basically undeveloped when it opened, but this one is farther along than ours already.  Then I saw a sign that explained it.

The property was improved by the Robert and Dee Leggett foundation as the Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship. 

Sweet Run State Park