Harper Cemetery Marker

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Harpers Ferry in Jefferson County, West Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)

Harper Cemetery

By Linda Walcroft, July 29, 2008

1. Harper Cemetery Marker

Inscription. Passing through this region in 1747, Robert Harper — a Pennsylvania architect contracted to build a Quaker church in the Shenandoah Valley — was so impressed by the beauty of this place and the water-power potential of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers that he settled here and founded Harpers Ferry.

When Harper died in 1782, there were only three houses in the town. Optimistic about the community's potential for growth, however, Harper had set aside this 4-acre cemetery. Childless, Harper left most of his estate to his niece, Sarah, who subsequently married a Wager. As you wander around the cemetery, you'll find the grave markers of some of Sarah Wager's descendants as well as stones of Irish and German immigrants who settled in this area during the 1830's.

Location. 39° 19.427′ N, 77° 44.074′ W. Marker is in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, in Jefferson County. Marker is on Fillmore Street 0.2 miles east of Columbia Street, on the right when traveling east. Click for map. Marker can be reached by walking through the cemetery downhill from Lockwood House and bearing right toward the woods. Alternately, it can be reached from a side trail off the Appalachian Trail just above Jefferson Rock. Marker is in this post office area: Harpers Ferry WV 25425, United States of America.

Other nearby markers.

Harper Cemetery Photo, Click for full size

By Linda Walcroft, May 18, 2008

2. Harper Cemetery

At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Lockwood House (about 300 feet away, in a direct line); Jefferson Rock (about 500 feet away); a different marker also named Jefferson Rock (about 500 feet away); Shenandoah Canal (about 600 feet away); Island Access (about 700 feet away); Virginius Island Trail (approx. 0.2 miles away); Jonathan Child House (approx. 0.2 miles away); St. John's Episcopal Church (approx. 0.2 miles away). Click for a list of all markers in Harpers Ferry.

More about this marker. The cemetery is on a hill with a lovely view.

Also see . . . Appalachian Trail Conservancy: Hike West Virginia. Appalachian Trail Headquarters Building is not far from Harper Cemetery. Page links to a (PDF) map showing cemetery location (as Harpers Ferry Cemetery). (Submitted on August 13, 2008, by Linda Walcroft of Basye, Virginia.)