Harpers Ferry Attractions

On October 16th 1859 the fanatical opponent of slavery John Brown attacked the Union arsenal at Harpers Ferry, in the north-eastern tip of West Virginia, with the idea of establishing a base there and gathering former slaves round him. American troops commanded by Robert E. Lee overwhelmed his small force, and Brown was carried off to Charles Town and hanged in December 1859. His story is retold in the John Brown Wax Museum in Harpers Ferry and the Jefferson County Courthouse in Charlestown.