Free previewStop 3 of Harpers Ferry Walking Tour: John Brown's Fort to Jefferson Rock
The Town That Was Saved by Failing
You're on Shenandoah Street in Lower Town, the low, flat heart of Harpers Ferry, squeezed between the rivers and the hills. Look along the street at the old brick and stone fronts lined up shoulder to shoulder. Some of this was rebuilt after war and floods, but many of these buildings are original. The question worth asking is why anything is still here at all.
The answer begins with the federal armory you heard about down at the Point. It was the only large employer in town. If you lived here in the early 1800s, odds are you worked for the armory, or you sold bread, cloth or whiskey to someone who did.
The government didn't stop at hiring. On the higher ground above you, it built large numbers of houses for armory workers and their families. Picture it: a company town, except the company was the nation itself.
That's the opening. The rest plays at stop 3 of Harpers Ferry Walking Tour: John Brown's Fort to Jefferson Rock (2 min in all). Unlock the tour to hear it all, or try stop 1 free first.
