Gorgeous hiking photos paired with a map, trail descriptions and tips to help you plan your next great hike. The only significant highway providing access to Harpers Ferry is U.S. Route 340. Inventor Captain John H. Hall pioneered the use of interchangeable parts in firearms manufactured at his rifle works at the armory between 1820 and 1840; his M1819 Hall rifle was the first breech-loading weapon adopted by the U.S. Du Bois led the first meeting on American soil of the newly founded Niagara Movement. [21], The Secretary of War asked the Navy Department for a unit of United States Marines, the nearest troops. Today, the house honors the spirit of Dr. Briscoe by blending traditional stylings of the early 1900's with artwork gathered from around the globe. The majority of the existing homes in Harpers Ferry are historic. [36], From most of Harpers Ferry, a fading advertisement for Mennen's Borated Talcum Toilet Powder painted on the cliff face of Maryland Heights decades ago is still visible. I am Michael Zeleke. Harpers Ferry, population 286 at the 2010 census, is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States, in the lower Shenandoah Valley. It is also served by MARC on the Brunswick Line. Towpath Guide to the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal: Harpers Ferry to Fort Frederick. The town was formerly spelled Harper's Ferry with an apostrophe—in the 18th century, it was the ferry owned and operated by Robert Harper—and that form continues to appear in some references.[6]. Leaf Group is a USA TODAY content partner providing general travel information. On July 23, 2015, a fire broke out in downtown Harpers Ferry, destroying eight or nine businesses and two apartments in two historic buildings. The town was transformed into an industrial center; between 1801 and 1861, when it was destroyed to prevent capture during the Civil War, the armory produced more than 600,000 muskets, rifles and pistols. Between the Appalachian Trail and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Towpath, you can access thousands of miles of hiking trails from Harpers Ferry, and that's to say nothing of the many shorter trails that wind their way through Harpers Ferry National Historic Park. Upon his retirement in 1954, Dr. Briscoe and his wife Marie returned to Harpers Ferry and operated a boarding house for Storer students. Welcome to Briscoe Africa House! According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Harpers Ferry has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.[38]. Five of the men were black: three free black men, one freed slave, and one fugitive slave. The median income for a household in the town was $52,344, and the median income for a family was $70,313. Gen. Robert E. Lee did not want to continue on to Maryland without capturing the town. From here, you can keep going west all the way to Ohio if you feel so inclined.