BGuthrie Photos: WV -- Harpers Ferry NHP -- Exhibit: Industry

WV -- Harpers Ferry NHP -- Exhibit: Industry:

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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. HARIND_141111_05.JPG: Brass stencil used by the Child & Mill to mark their flour barrels
2. HARIND_141111_18.JPG: The Wager Bridge was built in 1824 under the direction of Lewis Wernwag
3. HARIND_141111_21.JPG: First Baltimore & Ohio Bridge, designed by Benjamin Latrobe, Jr., replaced the Wager Bridge in 1837.
4. HARIND_141111_26.JPG: Wendall Bollman's Bridge, built in 1867, lasted into the twentieth century.
5. HARIND_141111_36.JPG: The Race for The Ohio Valley: Both the B&O Railroad and the C&O Canal raced for the Harpers Ferry watergap -- the easiest passage through the Blue Ridge. The two rivals battled for the narrow right-of-way along the Potomac until they arrived opposite Harpers Ferry in 1834. Here the iron horse crossed the Potomac, eventually providing its superiority by reaching the Ohio River in 1852. The slow-moving, labor-intensive canal never passed beyond Cumberland, Maryland, 100 miles short of the Ohio Valley. Railroads: The Experimental Challenger: National Limited Train No. 1 westbound at Millers Bend on Track 1 passing eastbound canal boat on C&O Canal. Canals: The Proven Method: Lift Lock 33, opposite Harpers Ferry, c. 1870.
6. HARIND_141111_53.JPG: Harnessing the River: The power produced by the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers transformed Harpers Ferry into an industrial town. Throughout the first part of the nineteeth century, both the Federal government and private industry tried to harness the rivers. But the forces of nature resisted control. Floods threatened life and property; drought could bring the work of the community to a stand still. Harpers Ferry "affords every advantage that could be wished for water works to any extent." -- George Washington to Secretary of War James McHenry, September 28, 1795 "The water power [at Harpers Ferry] is not surpassed by any situation in the country and a sufficiency may be obtained for almost any eligible purpose." -- Charles Town Virginia Free Press, August 16, 1832 "[The rivers'] chief peculiarity lies in the great fluctuations to which their flow is liable... [and they] are subject to very sudden and heavy freshets, while in dry season their discharge becomes very small." -- Report on the Water-Power of the United States, 1885
7. HARIND_141111_56.JPG: As new technologies and more efficient waterwheels and turbines became available, the town's industries adopted them and built the raceways needed to carry the water to the factories. These efforts helped the town maintain a competitive edge during America's industrial revolution.
8. HARIND_141111_59.JPG: Flood and Drought: The rivers have two natures. One is helpful, supplying power to the mills and factories sited along their banks. The other is destructive. Seasonal droughts often shut down factories, and spectacular and damaging floods all but wiped out the town.
9. HARIND_141111_67.JPG: Stock: The wooden stock of the musket was the first component manufactured by mass production machines. The duplicating lathe, sometimes called a Blanchard lathe for its inventor, quickly turned out walnut stocks identical to the pattern. Barrel: The barrel of a musket required exacting production techniques. The bore had to be a uniform diameter, and the metal free from flaws. A special type of machine called a barrel-turning lathe smoothed the exterior of the barrel and cut the correct taper from breech to muzzle.
10. HARIND_141111_73.JPG: Stock: The wooden stock of the musket was the first component manufactured by mass production machines. The duplicating lathe, sometimes called a Blanchard lathe for its inventor, quickly turned out walnut stocks identical to the pattern. Barrel: The barrel of a musket required exacting production techniques. The bore had to be a uniform diameter, and the metal free from flaws. A special type of machine called a barrel-turning lathe smoothed the exterior of the barrel and cut the correct taper from breech to muzzle.
11. HARIND_141111_75.JPG: Rifling Machine: With the advent of rifled muskets, twisting grooves were cut inside the barrel with a rifling machine. A bullet fired from a rifled barrel spirals in flight, giving it greater accuracy over long distances.
12. HARIND_141111_79.JPG: The federal armories at Harpers Ferry and Springfield Massachusetts, were among the first machine operated industries in the United States. Workers in the armories used many labor saving machines to produce the three major components of the musket: the lock, the stock, and the barrel. This exhibit shows representative examples of machines used in the 1850s. All were driven by water power, transmitted to the machine through pulleys and leather belts.
13. HARIND_141111_81.JPG: Lock, Stock and Barrel Lock: Two machines represent those used to machine a lock. The serrated rotary cutters of the "milling machine" shaped the contours of the lock plate. The drill press bored holes for screws and other fixtures. Multiple-spindle drill presses mounted all of the drill bits needed for a particular task.
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Directly Related Pages: Other pages with content (WV -- Harpers Ferry NHP -- Exhibit: Industry) directly related to this one: [Display ALL photos on one page]:
- 2012_WV_Harpers_Industry: WV -- Harpers Ferry NHP -- Exhibit: Industry (13 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] [Park (National Park Service)]
2014 photos: Equipment this year: I mostly used my Fuji XS-1 camera but, depending on the event, I also used a Nikon D7000. Trips this year: three Civil War Trust conferences (Winchester, VA, Nashville, TN, and Atlanta, GA), Michigan to visit mom in the hospice before she died and then a return trip after she died, and my 9th consecutive San Diego Comic-Con trip (including Las Vegas, Reno, Carson City, Sacramento, Oakland, and Los Angeles). Ego strokes: Paul Dickson used one of my photos as the author photo in his book "Aphorisms: Words Wrought by Writers". Number of photos taken this year: just over 470,000.
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