Harper's Ferry, Va.

E. Sachse and Company · n.d.

Before the war, Harper’s Ferry was home to the United States Armory and Arsenal, which shipped weapons throughout the country. In 1859, radical abolitionist John Brown launched his famous raid against this armory, hoping that his actions would trigger a large-scale slave insurrection. During the war, Harper’s Ferry switched hands eight times, because of its strategic location on both B&O Railroad and on the Mason-Dixon Line, which divided North and South. This undated, picturesque print presumably shows the town before its exposure to wartime violence. Smoke rising from a chimney in the town signifies that the armory workers are busy producing firearms. A train on the B&O railroad crosses a bridge over the Potomac in the lower left.