Harper's Ferry

 Have you ever been to Harper's Ferry?  Despite having lived in the Metro Washington DC area for all of my adult life, I had never been there until this summer.  I had always wanted to go - it played a pivotal role in the Civil War. Since I love history, getting there and seeing the actual location of John Brown's Raid and what role Harper's Ferry played in the War has been on my History Geek check list for a very long time. (Like, since High School, when I took U.S. History and found out that Harper's Ferry was less than an hour from our new house. Dad was transferred from Ohio to Virginia the summer before I started high school.)

Officially, Harper's Ferry is in West Virginia. You can stand on the edge of the river and look across to Maryland, and Virginia is literally a hop skip and jump down the road. Up until the war, this area was part of Virginia.

If you are curious to find out more about the history of Harper's Ferry, you can find more information here:

From the National Park Service:  https://www.nps.gov/hafe/learn/historyculture/stories.htm

10 Facts about Harper's Ferry: https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/10-facts-harpers-ferry

The history geek in me freaked out for a day. We explored nooks and crannies. We hiked across the bridge. We ate lunch under the giant trees. We hiked out to the island and explored. It was a wonderfully magic (but very hot day) 

This is the train station.  It’s been here forever, and it’s still active!

Commuter trains run through here daily into Washington DC. 

This beautiful hilltop was the scene of a very bloody battle. 

If you look down into the valley, you can barely see the Potomac River. 

The view of the train track from the station. 

I’m standing in West Virginia, looking at the Potomac River. Maryland is to the left. Virginia is to the right a little further downstream. The structure in the River is the old railroad bridge. 

Another view of the Potomac River and the highway bridge over top.