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Harpers Ferry

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Also known as Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, Harper's Ferry, Harpers Ferry, WV

town in West Virginia, United States

Key facts

Mayor
Gregory Vaughn ( I )
Total
0.63 sq mi (1.62 km )
Land
0.54 sq mi (1.39 km )
Water
0.089 sq mi (0.23 km )
Elevation
509 ft (155 m)
Density
526.9/sq mi (203.45/km )
Time zone
UTC-5 ( Eastern (EST) )
Summer dst
UTC-4 (EDT)
Fips code
54-35284
Website
www .harpersferrywv .us
Country
United States
State
West Virginia
County
Jefferson
Type
Mayor-Council

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Official name
Harpers Ferry
Population
269
Area
1.4
Elevation
149
Body of water
Shenandoah River
Shares border with
Bolivar
Official website
www.harpersferrywv.us
Image
2010-09-02-Harpers-Ferry-From-Maryland-Heights-Panorama-Crop.jpg
Households
148
Dialing code
304
Show 10 more facts
Commons category
Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
postal code
25425
inception
1751-00-00
native label
Harpers Ferry
water as percent of area
12.8383
twinned administrative body
Chatham-Kent
different from
Harpers Ferry
Köppen climate classification
humid subtropical climate
per capita income
53795
Sources (12)

via Wikidata · CC0

~36 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 269 at the 2020 United States census. Situated at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers in the lower Shenandoah Valley, where Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia meet, it is the easternmost town in West Virginia as well as its lowest point above sea level.

Originally named Harper's Ferry after an 18th-century ferry owner, the town lost its apostrophe in 1891 in an update by the United States Board on Geographic Names. It gained fame in 1859 when abolitionist John Brown led a raid on the Harpers Ferry Armory in a doomed effort to start a slave rebellion in Virginia and across the South. During the American Civil War, the town became the northernmost point of Confederate-controlled territory, and changed hands several times due to its strategic importance.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Harpers Ferry” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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