Laurel Lodge Bed & Breakfast
844 East Ridge Street, Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, 25425, United States
More about Harpers Ferry
Photos
Depot
Burnside's Bridge at Antietam
High Street, Harpers Ferry
Shenandoah River near Front Royal, VA
Travel Tips for Harpers Ferry
Shenandoah Street
by Geoff_Wright
On approaching the Visitor Center from Highway 340, you will pass a toll booth. Here you will pay a small entrance fee of $5. You'll then proceed to the ample car park area, and you will find the Visitor Centre building and toilets here. Your entry fee entitles you to free passage down to Harpers Ferry lower town.
When you arrive in Harpers Ferry on the bus, it drops you off in historic Shenandoah Street, the oldest part of the town.
The origins of Harpers Ferry can be traced back to 1733, when a Pennsylvanian gentleman by the name of Peter Stephens, began a ferryboat service here. In 1747 another Pennsylvanian gentleman Robert Harper a millwright by profession, bought the ferry service from Stevens. He made improvements to the ferry and built a gristmill on Virginius Island, in the Shenondoah River.
Bridges - 3
by Geoff_Wright
I'm not sure just when the toll bridge across the Shenondoah river was first built. It was certainly here at the beginning of the Civil War, and I've seen it in a photograph taken in 1896. Well, all that remains now are these old piers, which actually look in very good order.
The river here is in flood, but usually there are rocky outcrops visible on the Virginia side (the far shore).
Classic Cars too
by Geoff_Wright
And here are the cars to go with the Terrace Garage! Two of three vintage cars that we walked past on our way back to the lower town, from the cemetery. Seemed a pity that these beauties should have been left outside, slowly deteriorating.
Jefferson Rock
by Geoff_Wright
It was only by chance that we came upon the 'famous' Jefferson rock, perched high up above the Shenondoah River. We had noted the fine looking church on the hillside, and some other visitors suggested that we visit the cemetery. The path to the cemetery passes Jefferson rock.
The original rock was surmounted by an enormous boulder, much smaller at its base than at the top, and balanced perfectly on the present rock. It was on this top boulder that Thomas Jefferson carved his name. In 1800, when he was Republican Candidate for President, one Captain Henry, of the United States Army detachment stationed at Harpers Ferry, ordered some of his men to accompany him to the Rock, and with crowbars and rams pushed the delicately balanced boulder bearing Jefferson's name off the pedestal and down the hill.
Cemetery Headstones
by Geoff_Wright
The cemetery is, as you would expect, well maintained, and the headstones are obviously maintained to some extent. This stone was in a family enclosed plot. I have some information somewhere on the Throckmorton's, which I'll try to find. Lucy Throckmorton Wager (1847 to 1917) lived to a good age considering the history of Harpers Ferry.
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