John Browns Fort, Harpers Ferry, Va.

Men standing next to John Browns Fort.

John Brown’s Fort was a building built in 1848 to be used as a guard and fire engine house for the Harpers Ferry Armory. On October 16, 1859, John Brown and his raiding party barricaded themselves in the building after their ill-fated attempt to seize the armory. The building was attacked the following day by forces under the command of Lt. Col. Robert E. Lee; Brown was arrested, tried, and executed. The building quickly became known as John Brown’s Fort. The only armory building to survive the Civil War, John Brown’s fort was dismantled and shipped to Chicago in 1891. Although it returned to Harpers Ferry in 1909, the structure now stands about 150 feet from its original location.

Stereo View by B & O Railroad, Harpers Ferry, Va.

Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 31352