Jack Walker Published

New Battlefield Site Replacing Dilapidated Harpers Ferry Buildings

A crowd of people gathers alongside a patch of grass where people dressed in Civil War-era military attire stand with rifles. A man in a green park ranger outfit stands in front of them, speaking and gesturing to the crowd.
Visitors to Harpers Ferry National Historical Park attend a historic reenactment event on Dec. 7, 2024.
Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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Five dilapidated structures in Harpers Ferry will be demolished to make way for a new, historically accurate battlefield landscape.

The National Park Service (NPS) announced plans to tear down the buildings at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park in a Wednesday press release.

The structures were built in the early twentieth century by resident Jacob Henkle and operated as part of a farm, according to an August 2023 demolition assessment report that NPS conducted for the site.

In 1920, the property was purchased by the Standard Lime and Stone Company and continued to serve as a farming and dairy production site.

But the houses, dairy barn, silo and shed on the property gradually fell into disuse, and Harpers Ferry National Historical Park Superintendent Tanya Gossett says they pose a risk to visitors and staff alike.

Once the structures are torn down, NPS plans to use the site for a historically accurate recreation of an 1862 Battle of Harpers Ferry battlefield landscape, she said in the press release.

“We appreciate all the public input we received about this project and look forward to an even better visitor experience on the battlefield,” she said.

The demolition will begin Jan. 21, and take approximately one month to complete, according to the press release.