LOCATION:
Harper's Ferry village was built in the Northeast
corner of West Virginia, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, with the states
of Maryland and Virginia on its boarders. Its founding fathers also thought
it was a good idea to situate the village on land near the edge where
the Potomac River and the Shenandoah River run together.
Harper's Ferry can be found off U.S.
Highway 340, where the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers meet.
Address: Harper's Ferry National Park,
P.O. Box 65, Harper's Ferry, WV 25425.
Harper's Ferry is now a National Historic
Park, where tourists can go and visit. Park employees, dressed in period
clothing, give tours to visitors during the summer months, and on weekends
during the Spring and Fall. A tour of the haunted places is given on Friday,
Saturday and Sunday evenings.
HISTORY & DESCRIPTION:
The village of Harper's Ferry has
a long history of bloody violence and natural disasters, earning the name
of being "a child of tragedy." As a result, it is thought to
be one of the most haunted places in North America.
1) The real violent events started in
1859, when John Brown thought that Harper's Ferry would be a perfect
place to set up his headquarters, in any of the excellent hideouts,
where he could store weapons and troops to defeat the slave owners and
be on his way to establish a slave-free place for runaway slaves. However,
when the federal forces arrived to wipe out Brown and his army, many
people living there were killed in the process.
2) Because of its location, Harper's
Ferry was in the middle of many battles during the Civil War, which
also resulted in many horrible deaths of some men, but mostly women
and children.
3) Those who survived the battles,
suffered and sometimes died in cholera epidemics and periodic flooding.
MANIFESTATIONS:
Many restless spirits walk the streets
of Harper's Ferry, and wander in and out of the buildings and historic
homes. The most haunted house at Harper's Ferry is the National Park Service's
guest house, used by visiting federal employees, doing various projects.
1) A Georgetown federal employee
met a glaring, glowering but good looking man, dressed in a brocade
vest, wearing a top hat and holding a cane, who was standing at the
head of the servant's stairway, at the end of the hall. As he was emitting
hostile vibes, she ran to the balcony door, where she felt an invisible
hand pushing her in the back, causing her to stumble. She turned around
and he vanished.
2) This same Federal employee met
a woman apparition on the staircase, dressed in a long, gray, hooded
dress, who was holding the hand of an eight year old child. Both ignored
the employee and vanished.
3) A planner from Denver staying
at this same guest house saw the same good-looking, glaring man in the
brocade vest, at the end of the hall, and the woman dressed in the long,
gray-hooded dress, with the little girl. All vanished before the planner's
eyes.
4) A researcher was taking a quick
nap on the sofa in the front room, He awoke and felt that someone was
watching him. He then saw a man dressed in 19th century work clothes
run by his sofa, carrying a dean man. Both disappeared in the hallway.
OTHERS-
A) At another historic house, located
in the center of Harper's Ferry, Mr. C and his kids lived on the top
floor. For months on and off, Mr. C. was awakened by a little child's
pitiful, heart-wrenching cry, which seemed to come from his bedroom
closet. Mr. C., while doing the dishes late at night, saw a glowing
white object float out of his closet and move toward his bed before
vanishing. After going back to the dishes, a tremendous crash shook
the house. After a thorough inspection, nothing was out of order. A
possible explanation of this haunting can be found in a recently found
dairy of a Civil War era woman, which tells the sad tale of a baby's
death caused by a fallen chimney, which happened in the middle of a
Civil War battle which was fought at Harper's Ferry.
B) John Brown's Farmhouse Headquarters
- is called the Kennedy Farmhouse, which is a 200 year old restored,
log cabin, located 5 miles outside the main town. Brown and his 21 men
slept upstairs in the small attic. Witnesses have heard John Brown's
ghost pace back and forth on the top two floors. Footsteps of a crowd
of people can be heard going up the steps. Sounds of people talking,
breathing and snoring have been heard as well. Psychics feel an aura
in the attic. One psychic claimed to have made contact with John Brown
himself, who was "pleased" with the renovation work done on
his old headquarters.
An apparition reassembling John
Brown himself has been seen walking down the streets of Harper's Ferry,
occasionally smiling at a visitor. He obligingly posed for a picture
with some West Viginia tourists, who enthusiastically asked him to join them.
When these tourists got their pictures back, there was a blank space
where the old man had stood, though everyone else was accounted for.
C) An unseen phantom Army, complete
with fife and drum sounds, marches down Hight street.
D) A little drummer boy, who was
killed when a Union soldier threw him out of a window, cries for his
mom.
E) A young girl, who was burned
in a 1830 fire, still screams for help.
F) Father Costello's ghost can be
seen praying for his congregation up on the hill at Saint Peter's Church.
Still Haunted?
Definately yes.
Private ghost tours are given at the
park.
Photo from nps.gov/hafe
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