Since we didn’t get the chance to go to Harper’s Ferry last week, the family and I went this past Saturday. We set our course to West Virginia via VA Rt. 15 North after stopping at a local farmer’s market (mmm, fresh eggplant!). The weather was perfect when we got there, and the teeny town was bustling with people. Even though most of them were tourists, it was still nice to grab a day outside with the family amongst the general commotion - we strapped Layla onto our chest carrier and walked around the town for about 3 hours. Although I took many photos, I’m especially happy with the panoramas. They turned out great in the beautiful light! Here’s the first one, which is from the side of the tracks that we don’t normally walk on. Back in 1936 a flood came through that was actually higher than these - pretty amazing:
The other side of the tracks
From that side of the tracks you can see the wide expanse of the town, especially the beautiful church there. Back behind the church is Jefferson Rock, which gets its name from Thomas Jefferson, who admired the view from there in 1783.
In this next panorama you can see some more lingering evidence of the flood of 1936 in which the majority of the Shenandoah River Bridge was wiped out:
Bridge remnants spanning the Shenandoah
What’s awesome is that there are two such bridge remnants right off the edge of town. One spans the Shenandoah, and the other the Potomac (Bollman Bridge). Here’s a view from the existing bridge spanning the Potomac - Bollman’s Bridge is at center:
Two ruined bridges
When I first visited Harper’s Ferry I assumed that these remnants were due to Civil War action. I was halfway right - the bridge spanning the Potomac was destroyed and rebuilt nine times during the war, but it was the flood that really finished it off. Fascinating!
Here is the whole gallery of pictures I took that day. Enjoy!
