A Moving Symbol
In it really began the Civil War.
Here was lighted the torch of liberty for all America…
For you this is the most hallowed shrine in this country. Henry McDonald, Storer College president
The foundations in front of you mark a temporary site of John Brown’s Fort, from 1895 to 1909. Originally located in Harpers Ferry, the fort was moved four times in 75 years. Entrepreneurs dismantled it and then rebuilt it on location at the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago. After the exhibition, journalist Kate Field saved the fort from demolition by raising the funds to move it here to Murphy Farm. In 1901 Storer College President Henry McDonald brought the fort to the college’s Harpers Ferry campus. After the closing of Storer College the National Park Service returned the fort near its original location in Harpers Ferry (lower town), where it stands today.
Marker can be reached from Murphy Road, on the right when traveling south.
Courtesy hmdb.org
