August 9-19, 2019

Codorus State Park

Hanover, PA

Part 2-Harpers Ferry National Historical Site and Antietam National Battlefield.

Harpers Ferry is a historic town in West Virginia situated at the confluence of the Potomac ad Shenandoah Rivers, where the states of Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia meet.

Due to limited parking in the town, visitors are encouraged to park at the Visitor Center and take a shuttle bus to the Lower Town.

 

 

During the Civil War, the town was the northernmost point of Confederate controlled territory.

Historically preserved Shenandoah Street

 

 

 

The Dry Goods Store

 

Frankel's Clothing Store-This exhibit reveals a revolution

 in the clothing industry tied to machines and advanced by war.

 

Steps leading up to St. Peter's Catholic Church 

 

 

 

 

 

Jefferson Rock is comprised of several larges masses of Harpers Shale, piled upon the other.  The name of this landmark derives from Thomas Jefferson, who stood there on October 25, 1783.  His description of the view first appeared in the Notes on the State of Virginia published in 1785.

 

The lower part of Harpers Ferry is within the National Historical Park notable as a center of 19^th-century industry and the scene of John Brown’s failed abolitionist uprising. 

In 1859 an armed group, led by abolitionist John Brown, captured the armory in Harpers Ferry in hopes of arming the slaves and leading them against U.S. forces in a rebellion to overthrow slavery.

Brown was captured and before being hanged predicted there was a civil war looming on the horizon, a prediction that came true less than two years later.  

Later in the afternoon we drove to the Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland where we began our tour in the Visitor Center that contains exhibits and an orientation film. 

The Battle of Antietam ended the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia’s first invasion into the North and led Abraham Lincoln to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.

On September 17, 1862, 23,000 soldiers were killed, wounded or missing after twelve hours of savage combat.

Upon leaving the Visitor Center we drove the 8.5 mile driving tour with eleven stops including the observation tower with a great view of the surrounding countryside.