Everything you wanted to know about Harpers Ferry, WV, but were afraid to ask

Since I wrote my last post, I've been on two more trips. Whew, I'm getting so far behind... well, no, I've BEEN so far behind, now it's just getting ridiculous :)

On the second day of our Maryland trip, we drove about 20 minutes over to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. I had always heard of Harpers Ferry as the place where John Brown, the abolitionist, did something in protest of slavery. Yes, that was the most I knew about it. Well, let me tell you, that Harpers Ferry is much more than just one building where John Brown was captured. We spent all day there and still did not see everything there was to see... We highly recommend a trip to Harpers Ferry for couples and families and heck yeah, even singles! why not!?!

Harpers Ferry main drag

The first thing you should know is that Harpers Ferry is a National Historic Park nestled in the Blue Ridge mountains at the beautiful juncture of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers. Three states are bordered here by the rivers - Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland. You arrive at a visitors center where you park, and then you jump on a shuttle which takes you to the two sites within the park. The first site we went to was the Bolivar Heights battleground. The locals say the name like "Oliver" with a B, not like the name is said in Spanish. You can find out more about the Battle for Harpers Ferry by clicking HERE. We found out that West Virginia split off from Virginia during the Civil War as they did not want to support the South and slavery. I think West Virginia rightfully takes pride in that little rebellion.

Tony on the Bolivar Heights battleground.

Walking the ridge at Bolivar Heights.

Civil war type cannon on Bolivar Heights with Maryland Heights behind me.

Looking down from Bolivar Heights.
You can see MD on the left, we are in WV, and VA on the right.

After spending some time at the battlefield, we were shuttled down-down-down the mountain to what is called Lower Town. The main street, Shenandoah Street, is full of Civil war era buildings with museum exhibits and living history exhibits. There are films, guides and historic interpreters, but we mostly just walked around on our own. They have a lot of signs and explanations along the way. Something else we found interesting was that Lewis and Clark came to Harpers Ferry to the forge to prepare for their historic trip.

Here are some of the sights we saw in Harpers Ferry:

St. Peters Catholic Church overlooking the town of Harpers Ferry.

The first buildings as you walk into town.

The Arsenal aka John Brown's Fort

Make the picture bigger to read more about the Fort.

 Another very fun thing about Harpers Ferry is that the Appalachian Trail goes right through the city!  We saw quite a few worn out, grizzled hikers on their way from Georgia to Maine. We walked on the trail for a short while ourselves. Very cool!

The confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers.
Potomac is on the left and center, and Shenandoah on the right.

Remains of a bridge.

 Harpers Ferry was a charming little town with many preserved buildings as well as on-going preservations and restorations. If you go, plan on spending the entire day if you can.