Monument to John Brown’s Fort

Harpers Ferry Main • Tour the Battlefield > Lower Town 

The monument to John Brown’s Fort marks the original location of the engine house (a garage for fire engines) that Brown defended during his 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry. The ‘Fort’ has been moved several times since the Civil War and now stands about 50 yards to the southeast. The ground under the monument was covered by a railroad embankment in the 1890’s and is several feet higher than the time of Brown’s raid.

The monument to John Brown's Fort in Harpers Ferry

From the monument:

John Browns Fort

From the marker next to the monument:

John Browns Fort

Commemorated here is the original location of the “John Brown Fort”–the Federal Armory’s fire engine house where abolitionist John Brown and his raiders were captured by the U.S. Marines on October 18, 1859. If you look to the south, you will see the Fort about 150 feet from here. The Fort was first moved in 1891 and its original foundation covered by the railroad in 1892.

Location of the monument

The monument to John Brown’s Fort is in the Lower Town of Harpers Ferry about 30 yards northwest of the intersection of Potomac and Shenandoah Streets.