Harpers Ferry Armory

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The Harpers Ferry Armory, more formally the United States Armory and Arsenal at Harpers Ferry, located in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia (then part of Virginia), was the second federal armory commissioned by the new United States government, the first being the Springfield Armory in Springfield, Massachusetts.

In 1794, the United States Congress passed a Bill calling "for the erecting and repairing of Arsenals and Magazines". President George Washington, given wide latitude in carrying out this order, selected Harpers Ferry, then a part of Virginia, for the location of the second arsenal. In 1796, the United States government purchased a 125-acre parcel of land from the heirs of Robert Harper and, in 1799, construction began on the United States Armory and Arsenal at Harpers Ferry.

The Armory was the site of the famous abortive slave revolt of John Brown in 1859, which, while unsuccessful as a revolt, is credited with helping precipitate the American Civil War and eventual freedom for slaves in the United States. Near the beginning of the Civil War, the armory was set ablaze by retreating United States soldiers to prevent it falling undamaged into Confederate hands. Today the site is mostly covered by railroad track embankments.