Harper's Ferry

The streets of town with
Maryland Heights in the
background

Today was an amazing trip to Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. After an hour-long drive from Silver Spring, we arrived at the national park's visitor center. From there, we took a shuttle bus to the town. The town, which dates back to the late 1700's, has 200 year old shops and reveals the history of the civil war. Virginia and Maryland, both slave states, were the two states that were home to the town, but during the civil war, MD refused to leave the union after Virginia left. West Virginia left Virginia, and the war broke out. We crossed the Potomac River on foot to get back to MD, and walked along the C and O Canal towpath to the beginning of our trail. We hiked up an area of high ground known as "Maryland Heights," where we hiked steeply up to 1449 ft. At the top of the mountain was a stone fort, formerly a part of a mountaintop union camp. We hiked up the steep trail thinking about how hard it must have been for the union soldiers to drag cannons and supplies up to the top. According to a book, Abraham Lincoln gave up before reaching the camp. We ate our picnic lunch and enjoyed the view east of the river and mountains. We then hiked down to 661 ft., where we enjoyed views of the town and the river from a cliff overlook. This was followed by hiking back to WV and the town. We learned the story of John Brown, who attacked the town in 1859 with hope to inspire slave revolts. His fort still stands there today, although he was hanged after the war. We also explored the shops and streets of town before riding the bus back to our car and driving home.

The town as seen from the
cliff in Maryland

The view east of Maryland and
Virginia from the fort

The Potomac River divides MD
and WV/VA