Existing comment:
Tourists Take the Scene:
Harpers Ferry never wanted for admirers. Writers of the 1840s declared it "one of the most harmonious combinations of mountain, vale, and river," but the factories of this period gave little hint that it would become a resort after the Civil War -- a war that wrecked its buildings and stripped its hillsides. The shift to tourism began in the 1870s and 80s, when the B&O railroad built an amusement park and began promoting excursions that brought up to seven thousand visitors in a single day. Tourism would remain a mainstay here as automobiles became popular, the Appalachian Trail opened in 1934, and the Harpers Ferry National Monument was established in 1944 as a precursor to the present-day national historical park. |