Information Panel: Six Acres That Changed the World

Information Panel: Six Acres that Changed the World

NPS / Claire Hassler

Quick Facts

Amenities

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Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits

Along this path lie the remains of the revolutions. Six acres of the U.S. Armory at Harpers Ferry have been reduced to rubble. Buildings that buzzed with activity and innovation now lie covered with dirt. Train tracks that pushed to the edge of a new frontier lie abandoned. A stone marker stands where John Brown and his men struck their blow against slavery--heralding new birth for the nation and new freedom for all its people.

1795
"A place of immense strength" George Washington chose Harpers Ferry as the site of for the nation's second national armory.

1803
"Manufactured for me at this place" Meriwether Lewis supplied his Corps of Discovery with guns and other goods produced here at the Harpers Ferry armory.

1819
"A greater degree of perfection..." Inventor John Hall's new method of "fabricating arms exactly alike" revolutionized industry and pitted man against machine.

1836
"The Great National Project"
The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad rumbled through the armory grounds, racing west against the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal.

1859
"Slavery is a state of war"
John Brown's attempt to end slavery by attacking the armory catapulted the nation into civil war.

1861
"Our armory is burnt"
Virginia militiamen descended on Harpers Ferry to seize arms and equipment from the federal armory. Retreating Federals set fire to the armory and arsenal.