We woke up to a rainy day and we were planning to visit the Historic Town of Shepherdstown, and the battlefields of Harpers Ferry and Antietam Battlefield. Even if you are not a history buff (like me) you will still be touched by the vast amount of information there is about the American Civil War. Just thinking about this war and the lives lost and how hard it was fought gives you chills!
After dropping our friend Tom off at the VA Hospital for an appointment, Paul, Karen and I headed to the town of Shepherdstown, the oldest town in West Virginia where during the war most of the buildings were turned into hospitals during the battle of Antietam. The town is now mostly a tourist location with many quaint shops and places to eat. We chose a wonderful bakery and had lunch while waiting for the weather to improve. Shopping was a must do for me as I have seen way to many gift shops with items of historical value and needed some real boutique finds – SUCCESS!
Shepherdstown Museum
Teachers College
Built in the town of Shepherdstown is The Little House, a miniature house built in 1929 as a project that teachers could watch children in a “Direct Experience Method”. The house is a 5 room, 2 story complete house that is made child size. The detail was amazing. When it was original built it was a farm with a barn and field crops.
The Little House
Finally Tom was done with his appointments and we headed to Harpers Ferry National Park. Harpers Ferry is where the Civil War essentially started when John Brown raided the armory to steal guns and arm the slaves. The raid failed, but the damage was done. The town of Harpers Ferry is located where the Shenandoa and the Potomac Rivers meet. A section of the Appalachian Trail runs along the river here so I walked a short distance to say we walked the Appalachian Trial! Way more history here and a walk across the Potomac river before heading to our next Battlefield.
Bridge over the Potomac River
Thomas Jefferson Rock
Appalachian Trail
Harpers Ferry on the hillside where the two rivers meet
Harpers Ferry Catholic - high upon the hill
Intricate stained glass
Our last stop for the day was Antietam Battlefield which is the largest one we have seen so far and it covers miles of farmland in Maryland. There is a driving tour and everywhere you turn there is a memorial to a regiment that fought during this battle. The battlefields are now covered in corn and wheat which deer are really enjoying. We drove most of it and ran out of time as it was getting dark!
This concludes our Civil War tour for now as we are heading north and won’t have much time for site-seeing until we get to New York.