HArpers Ferry

The first resident of what is today the town if Harpers Ferry was a man named Peter Stevens, who bought a small plot of land and built a modest cabin there in 1932. However, in 1947, a man named Robert Harper was instructed to build a Quaker church on the Opequon River, which is about 16 miles to the West of Harpers Ferry. He never got to the Opequon, he didn’t end up building the church because on his way there, he was smitten by the view of a majestic valley with a picturesque river edging it. This was the place that was to become what is today known as Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. He bought the plot from Stevens, built a house there and settled down, making it his family’s permanent location. In 1750, Harper bought a patent on 125 acres of land in this location, which is where the town is located today. In 1761, Harper developed a ferry across the Potomac River, which ran along the side of the town that today is known as Harpers Ferry. This ferry across the Potomac made the town a great way en route for settlers going west, and up or down into the Shenandoah Valley. Finally, in 1763, the Virginia General Assembly declared Harpers Ferry a town. Back then, the town housed very few people, and was mostly used for people who were constantly coming and going on and off of the Potomac River. Today, however, Harpers Ferry is a small, but well-established small town with a population of around 300 people. In addition to the growth of the town’s population, the town has grown in many other ways. It has grown from a small town that served mainly as a passage for travellers to a very important historical town that is a huge tourist attraction and nearly everyone knows about even though few know what it is historically known for.