John Brown Fort, Shenandoah Street, Harpers Ferry, Jefferson County, WV

Significance: This structure was built in 1848 by the government to house the fire engines and watchman's house for the U.S. Armory. In 1859, Abolitionist John Brown and his followers, having sought refuge in this building, surrendered to Robert E. Lee and a company of U.S. Marines after Brown's unsuccessful attempt to capture the Arsenal. The building was subsequently moved to the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago (1893) and then to the Murphy Farm in the Shenandoah Valley above Harpers Ferry. In 1909, the building was acquired by Storer College and relocated on that campus. The age of the various parts of the building cannot be authenticated.

Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: FN-19

Survey number: HABS WV-21-5

Building/structure dates: 1848 Initial Construction

Building/structure dates: 1892

Building/structure dates: 1895

Building/structure dates: 1910

forts and fortifications armories fire stations galleries and museums war civil war abolition movement harpers ferry brown john brown fort shenandoah shenandoah street harpers ferry jefferson county west virginia jack e boucher edward m craig a w franzen historic american buildings survey herbert h kissling harold a nelson f blair reeves photo ultra high resolution high resolution historic american engineering record historic american landscapes survey us marine corps chicago library of congress

1933 - 1970

Library of Congress

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