BGuthrie Photos: WV -- Harpers Ferry NHP -- Downtown Visitor Center

WV -- Harpers Ferry NHP -- Downtown Visitor Center:

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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. HARPVC_171226_013.JPG: African American History Slavery, Freedom, Civil Rights
2. HARPVC_171226_016.JPG: Natural Heritage Landscape Shaped the History
3. HARPVC_171226_020.JPG: John Brown
4. HARPVC_171226_022.JPG: Industry Water, Power & Weapons
5. HARPVC_171226_025.JPG: Transportation Railroad, Canals & Turnpikes
6. HARPVC_171226_027.JPG: Civil War Four Years of Hardships & Headlines
7. HARPVC_171226_029.JPG: Natural Heritage Landscape Shapes the History
8. HARPVC_171226_034.JPG: "No spot ... experienced more of the horrors of war." Civil War at Harpers Ferry
9. HARPVC_171226_041.JPG: The Union Army converted the idle Cotton Factory on Virginius Island into a hospital "for the treatment of diseases only." Known as the "Island Hospital," soldiers feared confinement there due to the high mortality rate.
10. HARPVC_171226_045.JPG: From a strong position on Maryland Heights in July, 1864, Union forces delayed Confederate General Jubal Early's raid on Washington, D.C. Early lost four days at Harpers Ferry and gave the Federals time to reinforce their defense of the capital.
11. HARPVC_171226_050.JPG: After the surrender of the federal garrison here in 1862, Union General John Geary's division crossed the Shenandoah River to occupy Loudoun Heights. Without proper fortification of the surrounding high ground Harpers Ferry could not be defended.
12. HARPVC_171226_055.JPG: Vacant ruins replaced bustling factory buildings as a ounce thriving town fell victim to war. By 1865, this grim scene had spread throughout the community. One observer remarked, "Most of the inhabitants have fled... Only nature is as calm and magnificent as ever."
13. HARPVC_171226_062.JPG: A Place of Struggle and Triumph African-American History at Harpers Ferry
14. HARPVC_171226_066.JPG: At Storer College in 1881, Frederick Douglass presented a powerful speech praising John Brown. Thus began a tradition of remembrances kept alive by Storer president Henry T. McDonald and others. In 1909, John Brown's Fort was rebuilt at the school and remained there on Camp Hill until 1968.
15. HARPVC_171226_070.JPG: In 1864, the 19th United States Colored Troops marched through town on a recruiting mission. This event marked the first time that African Americans serving as Union soldiers appeared in Harpers Ferry.
16. HARPVC_171226_080.JPG: The first public meeting of the Niagara movement was held on Camp Hill at Storer College in 1906. Led by W.E.B. Du Bois, the organization was the first collective attempt by African Americans in the twentieth century to demand full civil rights.
17. HARPVC_171226_087.JPG: Storer College commencement program from 1906
18. HARPVC_171226_090.JPG: From 1867 to 1955, Storer College stood high above Harpers Ferry on Camp Hill. Beginning life as a one-room school for former slaves, Storer grew into a full-fledged degree-granting college open to all races, creeds and colors.
19. HARPVC_171226_094.JPG: By 1859, 300 African Americans lived in Lower Town and on Virginius Island -- half as slaves. The picture above was taken at Child House on Virginius Island in 1865.
20. HARPVC_171226_097.JPG: Before the Civil War, most managers in Harpers Ferry segregated black and white laborers, although the U.S. Armory used slaves as carpenters, water carriers, and cartmen. Free black business people existed, but they were usually treated as second-class citizens and often subjected to discrimination.
21. HARPVC_171226_102.JPG: In 1864, the 19th United States Colored Troops marched through town on a recruiting mission. This event marked the first time that African Americans serving as Union soldiers appeared in Harpers Ferry.
22. HARPVC_171226_107.JPG: "Get on your arms, we will proceed to the Ferry." John Brown's Raid at Harpers Ferry
23. HARPVC_171226_113.JPG: Loudoun Heights provided John Brown with an entry to the southern Appalachian Mountains or, what he called, "The Great Black Way." Extending into the deep south near concentrations of slaves, Brown intended to use the terrain to stage guerrilla warfare and to conceal runaway slaves.
24. HARPVC_171226_116.JPG: On October 16, 1859, John Brown took the sleepy town of Harpers Ferry, Virginia, completely by surprise. As his first move in a bid to end slavery, Brown ordered his followers to secure the bridges and seize the weapons factories in Lower Town and on Virginius Island. His "army of liberation" would then campaign south using Loudoun Heights to strike deeper into slave-holding country. Lower Town became the scene of chaos and violence as townspeople and militia cut off escape routes and engaged Brown's men. The raid ended on October 18, but the controversy had just begun.
25. HARPVC_171226_120.JPG: John Brown as his raiders entered Harpers Ferry by crossing the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad bridge over the Potomac river. Seized by a mob while carrying a white flag of truce, raider William Thompson was murdered on the bridge to avenge the death of Mayor Fontaine Beckham. Only portions of the bridge piers remain today.
26. HARPVC_171226_123.JPG: Raider William Leeman's commission as a captain in the Provisional Army of the United States, signed by the Commander-in-Chief, John Brown.
27. HARPVC_171226_126.JPG: John Cook viewed the final stages of the raid from a position on Maryland Heights. Cut off from other raiders in Harpers Ferry, he only fired a few shots from his mountain perch before escaping to Pennsylvania. Cook was soon captured and returned to Virginia for trial and execution.
28. HARPVC_171226_129.JPG: Raider John Cook used this spy glass to view Harpers Ferry from Maryland Heights on October 17, 1859.
29. HARPVC_171226_132.JPG: The U.S. Armory fire engine house became known as John Brown's Fort after his capture there in 1859. The only surviving building from the armory site, this simple structure has been embraced by many people as a powerful symbol of freedom.
30. HARPVC_171226_135.JPG: John Kagi Lewis Leary John Copeland Three of Brown's men, John Kagi, Lewis Leary and John Copeland, seized the U.S. Rifle Works on Virginius Island for 16 hours. During their attempted escape across the Shenandoah River, Kagi and Leary were shot and killed. Copeland was captured and spared a lynching, only to be tried and hanged two months later.
31. HARPVC_171226_145.JPG: "People from the far corners of the earth will come here to a spot of supreme interest to students of history, students of scenic beauty, and students of nature's surprising riches." -- 1938, Dr. Henry T. McDonald, Store College President
32. HARPVC_171226_153.JPG: The Civil War: In 1860 Harpers Ferry was a thriving industrial community, by 1861 it was a prize of war. Virginia seceded from the Union on April 17, 1861. within twenty four hours retreating federal troops had torched the U.S. Armory and southern forces had taken control of the town. Confederate General "Stonewall" Jackson surrounded the town in September of 1862. His capture of the Union garrison of 12,500 min was the largest surrender of Federal forces during the war. In August 1864, thousands of Federal troops massed at Harpers Ferry. From this staging ground, Union General Philip Sheridan orchestrated the Union offensive that defeated the Confederate forces in the Shenandoah Valley. Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Surrender on April 9, 1865 ended the war. The fighting was over, but suffering continued. The town had changed hands eight times resulting in the destruction of industries, homes and lives. Harpers Ferry had paid the price of war.
33. HARPVC_171226_156.JPG: African-American History: African-American roots are deeply entrenched in the history of Harpers Ferry. Some of the people are well known, John Brown, Frederick Douglass and W.E.B. Du Bois, while others have been identified only through careful research. Beck, a black woman, arrived in 1747 with the town's founder, Robert Harper. She was his slave. While little else is known of her life, Beck was the beginning of African-American history in Harpers Ferry. There are many other stories filled with struggle and triumph reaching back more than 250 years. Slavery, the fight for freedom, education at Storer College and the Niagara Movement's struggle for equality are part of Harpers Ferry. These stories belong to all Americans.
34. HARPVC_171226_160.JPG: Burning of the U.S. Arsenal at Harpers Ferry, April 18, 1861.
35. HARPVC_171226_162.JPG: Company A, 22nd New York militia at Harpers Ferry, summer, 1862
36. HARPVC_171226_164.JPG: John Brown: John Brown may be the most controversial figure in Harpers Ferry history. On October 16, 1859, Brown and an army of twenty-one men seized the United States Armory. His plan to free slaves throughout the South had begun. Thirty-six hours later, US Marines captured Brown in the Armory fire engine house. The raid was over. Tried and found guilty of treason, murder and inciting slaves to rebel. Brown was sentenced to death by hanging. Front page news followed him to the gallows. Called a martyr by some, a madman by others, Brown aroused passions throughout the nation. The issue of slavery had been brought to the forefront. Civil War seemed inevitable.
37. HARPVC_171226_167.JPG: Industry "It is decidedly one of the best situations in the United States for ... factories. The water power is unsurpassed." -- Virginia Free Press, 1834 Natural resources, limestone, iron ore, timber and water power were plentiful at Harpers Ferry. By the mid-1800 s it was a thriving factory town with a population of almost 3,000 people. The foundation for this development was the United States Armory, located here by George Washington. The Harpers Ferry Armory manufactured more than 600,000 muskets, rifles and pistols until the outbreak of the Civil War. Virginius Island, nestled along the Shenandoah River, was home to a number of industries, including Hall's Rifle Works. Here, John Hall perfected interchangeable parts technology and inspired a world-wide revolution in manufacturing. Prosperity did not last. The destruction of the Civil War, a series of devastating floods and safer, more reliable sources of energy drew business away from Harpers Ferry and Virginius Island. Today, the factory ruins remind us of Harpers Ferry's contribution to America's Industrial Revolution.
38. HARPVC_171226_171.JPG: Natural Heritage: The landscape shaped the history of Harpers Ferry. The people that came here found a valley rich in natural resources. Generous deposits of iron ore and limestone, vast hardwood forests, and abundant water power attracted numerous industries. The water gap through the mountains provided an avenue for travel from east to west. Located within the gap, Harpers Ferry became the center of a busy transportation corridor. The town grew steadily until 1861, when the mountainous terrain provided a stage for civil war. Numerous floods prolonged the struggle to rebuild following the war; but the landscape survived -- a landscape that influenced a series of events unsurpassed in American history.
39. HARPVC_171226_173.JPG: Transportation: Millions of years ago, geologic fores created an opening in the Blue Ridge mountains. This water gap provided a passageway for footpaths, canoes, ferries, canals and railroads. As the country expanded westward, a steady stream of people funneled through the gap. In the 1820s, the C&O Canal and the B&O Railroad competed for business along the river corridor. Harpers Ferry thrived as travel improved dramatically, markets expanded and immigrant laborers settled in the area. Today, bridge ruins and empty canals contrast with modern highways and railroads as a testament to the evolution of transportation in America.
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AAA "Gem": AAA considers this location to be a "must see" point of interest. To see pictures of other areas that AAA considers to be Gems, click here.
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Directly Related Pages: Other pages with content (WV -- Harpers Ferry NHP -- Downtown Visitor Center) directly related to this one: [Display ALL photos on one page]:
- 2014_WV_Harpers_VC: WV -- Harpers Ferry NHP -- Downtown Visitor Center (16 photos from 2014)
- 2012_WV_Harpers_VC: WV -- Harpers Ferry NHP -- Downtown Visitor Center (36 photos from 2012)
Same Subject: Click on this link to see coverage of items having the same subject: [(NPS) Harpers Ferry Natl Historic Park] [Display ALL (NPS) Harpers Ferry Natl Historic Park photos] [Civil War] [Museums (History)] [Park (National Park Service)]
2017 photos: Equipment this year: I continued to use my Fuji XS-1 cameras but, depending on the event, I also used a Nikon D7000. Trips this year: Civil War Trust conferences in Pensacola, FL, Chattanooga, TN (via sites in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee) and Fredericksburg, VA, a family reunion in The Dells, Wisconsin (via sites in Ohio, Indiana, and Wisconsin), New York City, and my 12th consecutive San Diego Comic Con trip (including sites in Arizona). For some reason, several of my photos have been published in physical books this year which is pretty cool. Ones that I know about: "Tarzan, Jungle King of Popular Culture" (David Lemmo), "The Great Crusade: A Guide to World War I American Expeditionary Forces Battlefields and Sites" (Stephen T. Powers and Kevin Dennehy), "The American Spirit" (David McCullough), "Civil War Battlefields: Walking the Trails of History" (David T. Gilbert), "The Year I Was Peter the Great: 1956 — Khrushchev, Stalin's Ghost, and a Young American in Russia" (Marvin Kalb), and "The Judge: 26 Machiavellian Lessons" (Ron Collins and David Skover). Number of photos taken this year: just below 560,000.
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