P.O. Box 158 / Sharpsburg, MD 21782-0158 / 301-432-5124

Established by Act of Congress on August 30, 1890, this Civil War site marks the end of General Robert E. Lee's first invasion of the North in September 1862. The battle claimed more than 23,000 men killed, wounded, and missing in one single day, September 17,1862, and led to Lincoln's issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation.

ACTIVITIES:

Audiovisual Program: "Antietam", is shown on the hour from 9:00am to 4:00pm.  This 25-minute movie describes the Maryland Campaign and the Battle of Antietam. Narrated by James Earl Jones, “Antietam” is shown in the visitor center theater.

Tours: The best way to view the battlefield is to take the self-guided driving tour. The tour road is 8½ miles long with 11 stops. Most visitors drive the route, but walking and biking are encouraged. CD audio tours, which enhance the self-guided tour, may be purchased from the bookstore.

Interpretive Programs: During the summer season scheduled talks are conducted daily by park rangers. Check at the Visitor Center for a daily schedule.

P.O. Box 65 | Harpers Ferry, West Virginia 25425 | (304) 535-6298

THE HISTORY OF HARPERS FERRY HAS FEW PARALLELS IN THE AMERICAN DRAMA. It is more than one event, one date, or one individual. It is multi-layered – involving a diverse number of people and events that influenced the course of our nation's history. Harpers Ferry witnessed the first successful application of interchangeable manufacture, the arrival of the first successful American railroad, John Brown's attack on slavery, the largest surrender of Federal troops during the Civil War, and the education of former slaves in one of the earliest integrated schools in the United States.

John Brown's Raid

John Brown believed he could free the slaves, and he selected Harpers Ferry as his starting point. Determined to seize the 100,000 weapons at the Arsenal and to use the Blue Ridge Mountains for guerrilla warfare, abolitionist Brown launched his raid on Sunday evening, October 16, 1859. His 21-man "army of liberation" seized the Armory and several other strategic points. Thirty-six hours after the raid begun, with most of his men killed or wounded, Brown was captured in the Armory fire engine house (now known as "John Brown's Fort") when U.S. Marines stormed the building.

Brought to trial at nearby Charles Town, Brown was found guilty of treason, of conspiring with slaves to rebel, and murder. He was hanged on December 2, 1859. John Brown's short-lived raid failed, but his trial and execution focused the nation's attention on the moral issue of slavery and headed the country toward civil war.

The Civil War

The Civil War had a profound and disastrous effect on Harpers Ferry, leaving a path of destruction that wrecked the town's economy and forced many residents to depart forever. Because of the town's strategic location on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad at the northern end of the Shenandoah Valley, Union and Confederate troops moved through Harpers Ferry frequently. The town changed hands eight times between 1861 and 1865.

On April 18, 1861, less than 24 hours after Virginia seceded from the Union, Federal soldiers set fire to the Armory and Arsenal to keep them out of Confederate hands. The Arsenal and 15,000 weapons were destroyed, but the Armory flames were extinguished and the weapons-making equipment was shipped south. When the Confederates abandoned the town two months later, they burned most of the factory buildings and blew up the railroad bridge.

Federal forces re-occupied Harpers Ferry in 1862. During the Confederacy's first invasion of the North, on September 15, 1862, Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson surrounded and captured the 12,500-man Union garrison stationed here. When the Federals returned to Harpers Ferry after the Battle of Antietam, they began transforming the surrounding heights into fortified encampments to protect both the town and the railroad. In 1864, Union Gen. Philip H. Sheridan used Harpers Ferry as his base of operations against Confederate troops in the Shenandoah Valley

African-American History

African-Americans have been a part of the Harpers Ferry story since before the American Revolution. The first black arrived here in the mid-1700s as a slave to Robert Harper. By the time of John Brown's Raid in 1859, about ten percent of the town's residents were black. The town's 150 slaves, considered property, could be rented out, sold, used as collateral for business transactions, or given away. Another 150 "free" blacks often worked as laborers or teamsters, but some prospered as skilled masons, plasterers, butchers, and blacksmiths.

During the Civil War, Harpers Ferry became one of many Union garrison towns where runaway slaves, or "contraband," sought refuge. Following the Civil War, New England Freewill Baptist missionaries acquired several vacant Armory buildings on Camp Hill and, in 1867, started Storer College, an integrated school designed primarily to educate former slaves but open to students of all races and both genders. Frederick Douglass served as a trustee of the college, and delivered a memorable oration on the subject of John Brown here in 1881.

By the end of the 19th century, the promise of freedom and equality for blacks had been buried by Jim Crow laws and legal segregation. To combat these injustices, Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois and other leading African-Americans created the Niagara Movement, which held its second conference on the campus of Storer College in 1906. The Niagara Movement was a forerunner to the NAACP.

In 1954, legal segregation was finally ended by the landmark school desegregation decision handed down by the Supreme Court in Brown v. The Board of Education. A year later Storer College closed its doors. Today the National Park Service continues the college's educational mission by using part of the old campus as a training facility.

Industry

The United States Armory and Arsenal, established here in 1799, transformed Harpers Ferry from a remote village into an industrial center. Between 1801 and the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, the Armory produced more than 600,000 muskets, rifles, and pistols, and employed, at times, over 400 workers. Inventor John H. Hall pioneered interchangeable firearms manufacture at his Rifle Works between 1820-1840, and helped lead the change from craft-based production to manufacture by machine.

Before the Civil War, Virginius Island boasted a number of private industries, including a sawmill, flour mill, machine shop, two cotton mills, tannery, and iron foundry. Lewis Wernwag, a noted bridgebuilder from Philadelphia, was one of the island's first entrepreneurs. Following the war, two water-powered pulp mills were erected along the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers. Today only ruins remain of Harpers Ferry's 19th-century industrial heyday.

Transportation

The convergence here of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, the Winchester & Potomac Railroad, and the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal in the mid-1830s inaugurated an era of economic and industrial growth that lasted until the Civil War. Trains and boats reduced travel time from days to hours and served as avenues for local commerce. German and Irish laborers who helped to build the railroad and canal later settled in the area and diversified the local culture. The ferry service operated by Robert Harper in the mid-1700s became obsolete as bridges spanned the rivers. Even George Washington promoted commerce in the region as first president of the Patowmack Company, which was formed in 1785 to permit boats of "shallow draft" to navigate the Potomac River. Today, only the railroad remains as an active reminder of the town's rich transportation heritage.

Natural Heritage

The Harpers Ferry water gap has attracted human attention for centuries. Native Americans, early settlers, railroad and canal used the gap in the Blue Ridge as an avenue of travel and transport. The rivers that carved the gap also produced power for the town's mills and factories. Hardwoods from the mountains provided charcoal for industry and fuel for stoves. Harpers shale afforded excellent building material. Although severe floods have sometimes ravaged what human hands have built, the land here has proven resilient.

Today, wetlands fill abandoned canals and plants and animals use old ruins as homes. Throughout years of human alteration and natural reclamation, the picturesque landscape has remained a constant – inspiring writers, artists, and millions of visitors. Thomas Jefferson, for instance, described the scene here as "worth a voyage across the Atlantic" in his Notes on the State of Virginia.

97 Taneytown Road / Gettysburg, PA 17325-2804 / 717-334-1124

Located 50 miles northwest of Baltimore, the small town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania was the site of the largest battle ever waged during the American Civil War. Fought in the first three days of July 1863, the Battle of Gettysburg resulted in a hallmark victory for the Union "Army of the Potomac" and successfully ended the second invasion of the North by General Robert E. Lee's "Army of Northern Virginia". Historians have referred to the battle as a major turning point in the war, the "High Water Mark of the Confederacy". It was also the bloodiest single battle of the war, resulting in over 51,000 soldiers killed, wounded, captured or missing.

The Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg was dedicated on November 19, 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln delivered his immortal Gettysburg Address. The cemetery contains more than 7,000 interments including over 3,500 from the Civil War.

Post-battle efforts preserved small portions of the battlefield as a memorial to the Union victory. On February 11, 1895, congressional legislation was signed to establish Gettysburg National Military Park as a memorial dedicated to the armies that fought this great battle. Gettysburg National Military Park incorporates nearly 6,000 acres, with 26 miles of park roads and over 1,400 monuments, markers, and memorials.

ACTIVITIES:

Plan to spend at least four hours at the park, though an entire day is more desirable. The park is open 9am – 5pm daily.  Visit the National Park Visitor Center and view the vast museum of Civil War relics. While there, view the 20-minute Introductory film about the Battle of Gettysburg.  Next, visit the adjacent Cyclorama Center, which has additional museum artifacts and the massive painting of the Battle of Gettysburg, featuring the climax of "Pickett's Charge". Tour the battlefield park on your own with a self guiding tour or with a Licensed Battlefield Guide (fee). During the summer months, there are free ranger led programs and special walks. Tickets for Museum Center range from $7 (youth 6-12) to $9 (ages 13+).  Tickets for the museum plus the Film and Cyclorama are slightly higher, consult the website for current rates and discounts.

4801 Urbana Pike / Frederick, 21704-7307 / (301) 662-3515

Known as the "Battle That Saved Washington", the battle of Monocacy on July 9, 1864 between 18,000 Confederate forces under General Jubal Early, and 5,800 Union forces under General Lew Wallace, marked the last campaign of the Confederacy to carry the war into the north. One of the objectives of this campaign was to capture Washington, D.C.

Although this battle was a military victory for the Confederates, it was also a defeat. Time spent for battle cost the Confederates a day's delay in marching on the federal capital. General Lew Wallace's defense along the Monocacy bought critical time to allow Washington to be reinforced. Early's raid would be thwarted and the war would be taken to the south for the rest of the war.

At Gambrill Mill:  Exhibit area located in Gambrill Mill visitor center includes electric map orientation program, interactive computer program, artifacts and interpretive displays of the battle. Trails, Roads: Stop at the visitor center for directions to the Worthington Farm Trail and Gambrill's Mill Trail and pick up a map for the Auto Tour of the battlefield area with directions to the five monuments. Programs/Activities: Programs vary throughout the year. Programs are offered by rangers and at special events in coordination with Living History volunteers. The Visitor Center is open 9am – 5pm daily.

11100 Fort Frederick Road / Big Pool, MD 21711 /(301) 842-2155

The site of Maryland's frontier defense during the French and Indian War (1754-1763), the Fort's stone wall and two barracks have been restored to their 1758 appearance. Historic displays are in the Fort, barracks and Visitor Center. The park annually holds military reenactments and other special events. Park lands adjoin the Potomac River and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal passes through park acreage. Tours are available by request. Daily Living History programming is available from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

The stone fort, named in honor of Maryland's Lord Proprietor, Frederick Calvert, Sixth Lord Baltimore, was erected by Governor Horatio Sharpe in 1756 to protect English settlers from the French and their Indian allies. Fort Frederick was unique because of its large size and strong stone wall. Most other forts of the period were built of wood and earth. The fort served as an important supply base for English campaigns. During 1763, an Ottawa Indian chief named Pontiac forged a massive Indian uprising. Several hundred settlers and militia force sought protection within the fort during this brief uprising.

Fort Frederick saw service again during the American Revolution as a prison for Hessian (German) and British soldiers. In 1791, the State of Maryland sold the fort. For the next 131 years, the fort and surrounding were farmed.

In 1922, the State of Maryland re-purchased the fort. Throughout the 1920's, the State began development of Maryland's first state park. During the Great Depression of the 1930's, a company of the Civilian Conservation Corps was assigned to the park to reconstruct the dilapidated stone wall, perform archaeology with the reconstruction of the enlisted men's barracks stone wall, and locate the foundations of the original interior buildings. Restoration continued in 1975. Future plans include reconstruction of the Officer's Quarters and other defensive works