Just a really beautiful day here in the state of Virginia. Had a nice night of sleep last night, cool temps just right for sleeping. The only thing to disturb my rest was all the hickory nuts and acorns that fell on top of the trailer all night long. Some of them are big enough that you really need a hard hat on when you go outside.

   Drove into Charlottesville late this morning to run a few errands. Wanted to pick up a USB splitter for the computer because this computer doesn't have enough ports for all the gadgets that I have to hook up to it. Also needed to find a new water hose washer with a built in strainer on it for my hook up hose. The one I have now is starting to leak a little bit around the connection because the rubber washer has been compressed so many times. A new one should help that out and even though it is only a little problem, it still feels better to get it fixed.

    Also drove around town long enough to find the school where the dance will be held tomorrow night. Surprise; it wasn't where they said it is. Close, but still around the corner on a different street. Better to find it today in the light rather than tomorrow after dark. Drove around a little bit and explored the town a some. Didn't get into the old town section yet, so there is still plenty of things to do. Still want to do Thomas Jefferson's 'Montecello' yet, perhaps Saturday, or maybe even Monday if it isn't raining to hard.... or snowing. Heard today that a hurricane is working it's way up the coast and could really strike anywhere between Florida and Maine, I am hoping it goes a bit farther north before coming ashore. Otherwise I may be packing up early and making a run for it. I hear Kentucky and Tennessee are nice this time of year.

     Below are some pictures from my trip over to Harper's Ferry the other day. I really enjoyed that trip and learned a lot of things I had not known before. I wish more of it would stick for longer, but I guess it is what it is. I hope some of you all will like them.

Located at the junction between the Potomac and the Shenandoah Rivers, Harper's Ferry has been known as a good route into and through the Blue Ridge Mountains and on into the Shenandoah and Ohio river valleys. This is a view of St Peters Catholic church on the hill overlooking the town.

Pres. George Washington was the one who convinced Congress that the new country needed it's own armory and arsenal to build and supply weapons for its army. He thought Harper's Ferry would be a good place to build it. Away from the coast where it could be captured, but still close to good transportation and a river or two to supply power for any factories or mills that were needed. In this picture the machine on the right, a Blanchard Lathe, it was capable of copying the butt end of a rifle stock in only a few minutes vrs. nearly 6 hours for a trained wood worker. It would also be exactly like every other stock and would only need a minimum of fine shaping and sanding before finishing. The machine on the left cut the lands and grooves, 'rifling', on the inside of pistol barrels. These would induce a spin to the bullet as it was fired creating much greater accuracy. 

One of the original workers at the armory was a man named John H. Hall. He invented and patented many of the machines that would be used to manufacture firearms for the military. His machines made it possible for the first time to have interchangeable parts to each gun because the milling tolerances could be so much tighter. This process allowed manufacturing to become more machine based and less reliant on craftsmen based production.

The milling machine at the forefront in this picture could mill small pieces in either wood or metal. On the right was another machine that would rough out the forestock of a rifle and route out the groove for the barrel to fit into. In the back is a lathe used to turn exact duplicates of rifle barrels and bore the interior.

Note all the leather belts that run from each machine to an overhead pulley system.  A water wheel would supply power to the horizontal axle and each pulley would have it's own lever that could be moved to engage or dis-engage the belt when power was needed.  

Some of the original town buildings, this one a hotel. Very few buildings on this level are original because of all of the floods that occurred over the years.

Maybe the most famous episode in Harper's Ferry History is the night John Brown, an abolitionist, 3 of his sons and several freed slaves took over the armory and arsenal with the idea of using the more than 100,000 rifles there to arm an army to do away with slavery. It did not take long for the locals to realize what was going on and corner most of them in this building, originally the fire house, and located in a different location. The militia, along with a band of federal troops under the command of Lt. Col. Robert E. Lee, finally captured them all and threw them in jail. John Brown was of course tried for treason and conspiring with slaves and was later on and hung for his treasonous acts. His daring however may have been one of many things that helped precipatate the start of the Civil War. This building is now known as John Browns Fort.

The back side of the Fort.



A view of some of the town from Arsenal Square.

A view looking east, downriver, from the 'Point' where the two rivers come together.

Harper's Ferry is also a story about transportation, from the original native trails to the actual ferry built by, presumably, Mr Harper, to canals, railroads and then modern roads. Two railroads, the Winchester and Potomac, along with the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company were in direct competition with the Baltimore and Ohio in seeing who could make it into the interior Shenandoah and Ohio Valleys first. The B & O were the ones to do it and their trains still run along the old right-of-way today. 

One of the old Winchester and Potomac RR bridge abutments over the Potomac River.

The newer bridges.

The original train station, though it has been moved twice to get it up above most flood waters. It still functions as a real station too.

A view down High Street.

Looking down on some of the town from what is known as the Harper House, a small mansion on the hill over looking the town.

Another view of St Peters.

 

More of the original town. I really like all of the old slate shingles on the roofs.

Some old ruins of the Methodist Church on the hill above town.

Another view.

Looking down river from Jefferson's rock, a view point Thomas Jefferson had once stood on to enjoy the view.

During the Civil War Harper's Ferry changed hands six times, including one battle that the Confederates won in which they captured more than 12,500 Union soldiers in. The town itself was nearly indefensible as it was surrounded by high hills on nearly all sides. All an enemy needed to do was place cannons on those hills and pound the defenders until they gave up. This is looking south at what is known as Blue Ridge.

Just an old house I thought was neat. I wonder what happened to the other addition to it. Was it maybe wood and burnt down leaving only the foundation and outline of it on the other part?

Part of the old canal and lock system that would lift canal boats around the rapids on the Shenandoah River. The same steep rocky area that made for difficult navigation also proved ideal as a place to build water powered mills of all kinds.

One of the many bridges that spanned the canal from the mainland side to the island side where all of the mills were located.  

What can I say.... it just seemed like a lovely scene.

Once the railroads were built there was no longer a need for the canals and locks along the river. Much later on one mill owner decided that he would build his mill right over the channel and install 10 electric turbines to supply power to run his mill. It worked well until a spring flood took the whole mill away except for what you can see here.

Some of the beautiful trees around the town and the park. The oaks and maples seem to be at their peak in some places. In others they are still all green and others yet are already done and nearly bare.

One last view of some of the gorgeous trees.