Harpers Ferry Main • Tour the Battlefield > Lower Town
The John Browns Last Stand wayside marker is in the Lower Town of Harpers Ferry in Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. The monument is next to the Short Lived Sanctuary wayside marker and a short distance from the Monument to John Brown’s Fort.
From the marker:
John Browns Last Stand
You are in the line of fire. The stone marker in front of you identifies the original site of the armory fire engine house – now known as John Brown’s Fort. Barricaded inside the fort, abolitionist John Brown and his men held off local militia and U.S. Marines for three days in October 1859. Brown’s men fired from inside the fort at militiamen and townspeople who shot back from positions around you. Finally, U.S. Marines stormed past where you stand, battered down the door, and captured Brown and his few remaining men. Famous orator and former slave Frederick Douglass later proclaimed that Brown’s fight here began “the war the ended slavery.”
Captions from the inset photos:
Inside the fire engine house, Brown and his raiders exchange fire with U.S. Marines who stormed the building to end the raid.
John Brown’s Fort was moved four times, arriving at its current location in 1968.
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)