Conservation Facilities

Willow Springs

Our artifact conservation facility at Willow Springs in Charles Town, West Virginia, includes treatment laboratories, a wood shop, a metals shop, a lighting test laboratory, a science laboratory, and a technical library that is a part of the Harpers Ferry Center research library.

Treatment Laboratories

Seven specialized laboratories perform artifact documentation and treatment according to a Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Practice developed by the American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works. The labs are equipped to examine, analyze, and document materials, and perform a wide range of treatments to preserve and conserve objects of social and cultural significance. Harpers Ferry Center conservators will also travel to park sites for some treatment projects.

Learn more about each of our laboratories:

• Archeology Laboratory
• Decorative Art Objects Laboratory
• Ethnographic Laboratory
• Paper Laboratory
• Textile Laboratory
• Wooden Artifact Laboratory
• Armament Lab

Office of the Registrar

The Office of the Registrar, which provides critical support to HFC by packing and shipping artifacts to and from park sites as well as storing collections that await treatment, is also located at Willow Springs. Office of the Registrar