Harpers Ferry Main • Tour the Battlefield > Lower Town
The Short Lived Sanctuary wayside marker is in the Lower Town of Harpers Ferry. It is beside the John Brown’s Last Stand wayside marker.
From the marker:
Short Lived Sanctuary
Thousands of enslaved people fled to the Union lines at Harpers Ferry during the Civil War. Some of them found shelter in the “contraband camp” located near here in the shadow of John Brown’s Fort. Their freedom and safety were always in jeopardy. Any withdrawal of the Union forces left them vulnerable to slave-catchers, notorious for capturing people of color and selling them into slavery. After the confederate capture of Harpers Ferry in 1862, Union Colonel William Trimble recalled watching “hundreds of men, women, and children, bond and free, driven past; their bowed heads and sad countenances telling the tale of their disappointed hopes.”
Captions from the photos on the marker:
The Union Army classified people who fled slavery and sought shelter with the Army as “contrabands.” To house them the Army created temporary “contraband camps” like this one in Harpers Ferry.
The young boy (back left) pictured with Union Troops at Harpers Ferry is one of thousands who sought employment and relative safety with the Union.
Location of the marker
The John Brown’s Last Stand and Short Lived Sanctuary wayside markers are in the Lower Town of Harpers Ferry about 45 yards north of the intersection of Potomac and Shenandoah Streets. (39°19’25.0″N 77°43’47.2″W)