Existing comment:
A Town's People:
Harpers Ferry for most of its history has been a working town. Armory and mill workers, slaves, freedmen, boardinghouse mistresses, teachers, shopkeepers, seamstresses, and students made this town home. For many of them, life was hard. Housing was in short supply; wages were generally low. After the Civil War, some whites were hostile to freed slaves, who now were competing for jobs and wages. Women and children worked long days, with few labor laws to protect them. Sanitation was poor. Indoor plumbing was uncommon well after 1900.
Despite these conditions, Harpers Ferry people were resilient. Their tools and belongings bear witness to how they lived and worked in a town that was moving away from an industry-based economy to one based on tourism. |