Cloudy drizzly warm winter day. Saw many types of passerines, Canada geese, kayakers, fisher people, crazy off leash GSPs, and a woman who yelled at me for making him run.
Mile marker 60.8
Harpers Ferry
On the night of October 16, 1859, abolitionist John Brown marched his “army of liberation” down the C&O Canal towpath and crossed the B&O Railroad Bridge into Harpers Ferry to raid the federal armory. The historic town of Harpers Ferry, much of which is part of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, is a must-see for history buffs. Several historical eras are interpreted for visitors, from the Industrial Revolution to the Lewis and Clark Expedition and the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement. (Source: www.canaltrust.org)
Mile Marker 58.0
Weverton and Casper Wever
Today Weverton is very quiet compared to what it once was. When Caspar Wever returned to his property just south of Harpers Ferry in 1836, after resigning from work as a superintendent on the B&O Railroad, he had grand plans to sell riverfront land to investors and create a community with water-powered industries. A ready supply of potential energy and a transportation network in place wasn’t enough for the project to succeed. The Potomac Company erected a large mill but it was never used. The Henderson Steel and File Manufacturing Company erected a building in 1846 and provided files to the Harpers Ferry armory until the approach of the war, around the time Caspar Wever died. A small marble-cutting operation set up shop but the factory never took hold. There was a hotel, a train station, and a saloon but since Wever’s idea for an industrial community never took off, the demise of the C&O Canal and the demolition of the train station brought Weverton’s importance as a transportation hub to a close. Today, other than trains passing by and traffic on Route 340, Weverton is a quiet location perfect for viewing wildlife. (Source: www.canaltrust.org)
No comments:
Post a Comment