Harpers Ferry Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

As W.Va. National Parks Lose Funding, 2024 Data Shows Record-High Turnout

Amid federal spending cuts that National Park Service workers say are straining operations and staffing, 2024 visitation numbers released Wednesday indicate that demand for the agency’s parks has increased.

Updated on Friday, March 7, 2025 at 11:46 a.m.

Across the United States, a record-high 332 million people visited national parks last year, surpassing a previous 2016 record that was just shy of 331 million. It also outpaces last year’s turnout by more than 6 million visitors.

Four outdoor recreational sites administered by the National Park Service are located within West Virginia: the Bluestone National Scenic River, the Gauley River National Recreation Area, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park and the New River Gorge National Park & Preserve.

Between 2023 and 2024, these four parks saw a net increase of 236,856 recreational visits. While Bluestone’s turnout fell during this period, the Gauley, Harpers Ferry and New River Gorge sites each saw their highest visitation levels in park history last year.

In total, the four National Park Service sites welcomed more than 2.58 million recreational visits last year, according to the 2024 data.

The National Park Service also co-manages the Appalachian Trail, which passes through West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle. Last spring, more than 2,250 thru-hikers registered to hike the entire trail and pass through West Virginia, according to figures from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.

The increase in visitation and demand came just before President Donald Trump took office in January. In the early days of his term, Trump set reducing federal spending as an administrative priority, and the National Park Service laid off roughly 1,000 employees in February in response.

But pushback against federal spending cuts from some West Virginia residents has sparked displays of activism across the state.

More than 100 people gathered in Harpers Ferry on Saturday to protest layoffs and funding cuts. Harpers Ferry brought in more than 488,000 visitors last year, making it the state’s second-most visited National Park Service site after New River Gorge, which brought more than 1.8 million visitors in 2024.

In Morgantown, hundreds gathered outside the Monongalia County Courthouse on Tuesday to voice opposition to reductions in the federal workforce and budget.

And, last month, another 150-plus people in Parkersburg protested a reported visit from representatives of the Department of Government Efficiency, a new agency the Trump administration has tasked with advising on federal spending cuts.

The National Parks Conservation Association is a nonprofit independent from the park service that advocates for the preservation of national park sites through lobbying and litigation, according to its website.

After the release of 2024 visitation data Wednesday, Kristen Brengel, the association’s senior vice president of government affairs, described funding cuts as a “slap in the face” in light of increased demand for national parks across the U.S.

“As peak travel season arrives, park visitors will have to contend with closed visitor centers and campgrounds, canceled ranger programs and less search and rescue staff,” she said in a Wednesday press release.

“Our national parks are beloved and storied places,” Brengel continued. “This threatens to put that beating heart on life support.”

**Editor's Note: This story was updated to clarify that the Appalachian Trail, which includes a segment in West Virginia, is co-managed by the National Park Service.

Bungee Jumping Coming To Harpers Ferry This Spring

A Canadian company plans to open a bungee jumping site at an abandoned quarry in Harpers Ferry this May.

This spring, an abandoned quarry in Harpers Ferry will become a lot busier. That is because a Canadian company is bringing a new bungee jumping site to the Old Standard Quarry.

Participants can drop more than 150 feet and graze the water down below. Reporter Jack Walker spoke with Orin Anderson-Barwin, general manager for The Great Bungee Company, about the project so far.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Walker: Can you tell me about your company, and how this new bungee jumping site came to be?

Anderson-Barwin: We currently operate Great Canadian Bungee, which is in Canada. This will be working in partnership with them. But what we’re offering is a water-dip bungee, which is quite unique. It will be the only water-dip bungee in the U.S., actually.

The jumpers have the option to enter the water if they would like to. We offer two types of harnesses, the anchor harness as well as the body harness. The anchor harness, you’re essentially put in an upside-down position attached by your feet. The body harness, you’re going to be in a sitting position. So it’s quite unique in that sense. The water dip will offer you an option to cool off on a hot day.

Walker: Can you tell us about the site’s location?

Anderson-Barwin: The quarry itself is quite a beautiful quarry. It’s about a mile-long quarry. It’s called Old Standards Quarry, and it’s located right across from Schoolhouse Ridge battlefields, which is really cool. So it’s kind of merging history and adrenaline, if you will. We’re also located right beside River Riders. River Riders [is] a well established rafting company to do white water rafting as well as a bunch of other activities. So we are looking to partner with them in the future.

Walker: What draws people to bungee jumping as an activity?

Anderson-Barwin: A big part of it is overcoming your fear. But for others it’s just pure adrenaline. It’s a hard feeling to describe, to be honest. But the free fall is definitely a part of it that most people say that they really enjoy about it. So that moment between where you jump off and when the cords caught you, where you’re literally plummeting towards the water, that is quite the sensation.

There’s also the water dip that I highlighted before, which is kind of like a little bonus at the end, if you will — you just get dipped. Once the cord has completely decelerated, you get a little dip in the water, and that’s also a highlight for people.

The Great Bungee Company, a Canadian business, is opening a new bungee jumping site at the Old Standard Quarry in Harpers Ferry this spring, located near Blair Road.

*Photo Credit: The Great Bungee Company*

Then there’s the rebound. So essentially, what a bungee cord is a bunch of elastic together, and it bounces you back up. The rebound could be up to 80% of the original height of the jump. So what that means is the whole process is almost starting over again. Once you get the rebound, you’re bouncing all the way back up, and you have a weightless moment. That’s another moment that people often describe as being one of their favorites in the experience. You’re weightless, and then you go back down, and then you have about five rebounds until you’re lowered into the boat.

Walker: What kind of safety features are planned?

Anderson-Barwin: We have operated our Canadian site for 34 years, and it’s really an industry leading standard in terms of safety. To give you just an idea, everything is redundant. So there’s a backup to essentially everything. Our procedures are quite elaborate. We have two people checking all the equipment, and we have backup equipment in place for everything. For example, there’s a backup rope, and our procedures themselves are all redundant.

We have quite the elaborate training program as well. So there’s a module training program that you have to go through to become a jumpmaster. And the jumpmaster is the person kind of responsible for the safety of the jumper during the course of the jump, and there’s all sorts of safety mechanisms in place. In terms of somebody who might be worried, of course, it’s a terrifying experience. It can be for a lot of people. But we have lots of training on that as well. So different psychological techniques to help people through that fear. There’s all sorts of different reactions when you get up and are staring down into the abyss. There’s lots of different reactions that we see, and we’re well trained on how to deal with those different reactions.

Walker: When do you plan to open?

Anderson-Barwin: We’re planning on being open seven days a week. This season will run roughly from May to November. Right now, we’re in a development phase. But what we are offering is something called the priority pass, so people are able to actually book the jump right now. … They get priority to choose their date. So essentially, even though we’re not open yet, they can book now. Before the reservation system goes open to the general public, they will have the opportunity to choose their date and time. It’s also at a discounted rate. So that’s what we’re offering at the moment, and that’s already up and running.

For more information on The Great Bungee Company and its plans for the Harpers Ferry bungee jumping site, visit the company’s website.

Bungee Jumping And Morrisey’s Executive Orders, This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, we hear about a new bungee jumping opportunity coming to West Virginia and a string of executive orders from new Gov. Patrick Morrisey.

On this West Virginia Morning, an abandoned quarry in Harpers Ferry will soon become a lot busier. That’s because a Canadian company is bringing a new bungee jumping site to the Old Standard Quarry this spring.

Participants can drop more than 150 feet and graze the water down below. Reporter Jack Walker spoke with Orin Anderson-Barwin, general manager for The Great Bungee Company, about the project so far.

Also in this episode, Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced eight executive orders Tuesday. Caelan Bailey reports on the policies, and Morissey’s administration priorities.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University and Marshall University School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

Maria Young produced this episode.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

New Battlefield Site Replacing Dilapidated Harpers Ferry Buildings

Five derelict buildings in Harpers Ferry are being torn down beginning this month. A new battlefield landscape will take their place.

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.

John Brown’s Abolitionist Raid On Harpers Ferry, 165 Years Later

Today, Harpers Ferry, West Virginia is a hotspot for American history buffs. But 165 years before any tourists came to town, fighters here clashed in a prelude to the United States Civil War.

Wednesday, Oct. 16 marked the 165th anniversary of abolitionist John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry, then a part of Virginia. In 1859, Brown — and at least 21 other men including Shields Green and John Henry Kagi — spent months planning an armed rebellion, with the goal of initiating a revolt that would free people enslaved across the South.

Brown and his colleagues descended upon a federal armory and arsenal in Harpers Ferry with the goal of distributing weapons to people who were enslaved in Virginia. That night, they overtook bridges to town, occupied weapons facilities and took hostage local slaveholders.

Brown and his colleagues had hoped their raid would serve as a catalyst for a wider rebellion, with more people joining their ranks.

But his plan never came to fruition, as two days later dozens of U.S. marines quashed the revolt. Brown was executed just months later, and the majority of his colleagues were killed in action or also executed.

United States Marines storm an armory fire engine house taken over by John Brown and his team in this illustration from the 1800s.

*Illustration from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper/United States Library of Congress via National Park Service*

The abolitionist raid received national press coverage as contentions over slavery and wider conflict mounted. Today, it is remembered as a precursor to a national war, and one of the first acts of coordinated armed resistance against chattel slavery in the United States.

From this, Harpers Ferry has long held a place in the public consciousness as a site of revolutionary potential, especially for Black Americans.

In 1906, African American civil rights leaders visited the town for the second meeting of the Niagara Movement, an early civil rights group described as a precursor to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Harpers Ferry’s abolitionist history, combined with its presence of a higher education institution serving Black Americans, Storer College, led leaders to select the town as the site for their conference.

An illustration from the 1800s depicts John Brown’s execution in present-day Charles Town, West Virginia.

*Illustration from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper/United States Library of Congress via National Park Service*

Today, the legacy of Brown’s raid and the abolitionist movement in Harpers Ferry is remembered through historical events hosted by the National Park Service (NPS) at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park.

In the afternoon of Saturday, Oct. 19 and Sunday, Oct. 20, the United States Marine Corps Historical Company will partner with NPS to host “living-history” exhibits, talks and demonstrations regarding Marine involvement in the conflict.

The park will also host a tour called “Clearing the Sky” on Oct. 18, Oct. 25 and Dec. 2.

The program will visit sites of importance to Brown’s raid and trial, including the Jefferson County Courthouse in Charles Town and the Jefferson County Museum, where artifacts from Brown’s life are held. The tour lasts roughly two-and-a-half hours.

For more details on NPS programming to commemorate the 165th anniversary of John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry, visit the organization’s website.

Amtrak’s Eastern Panhandle Service Changing Name, Destination

Amtrak is combining the Capitol Limited and Silver Star trains temporarily to accommodate a tunnel reconstruction project in New York.

Starting Sunday, Nov. 10, Amtrak passengers in Cumberland, Maryland, Martinsburg and Harpers Ferry will board the Floridian instead of the Capitol Limited.

And instead of ending in Washington, D.C., the train will continue on to Miami.

Amtrak is combining the Capitol Limited and Silver Star trains temporarily to accommodate a tunnel reconstruction project in New York.

The trains will continue to originate and terminate in Chicago.

They will be numbered 40 eastbound and 41 westbound. Functionally, not much will change. The trains will operate on a similar schedule at the same stops.

Passengers will, however, be able to get a one-seat ride to Florida.