Chambers- Murphy Farm: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Harpers Ferry National Historic Park, National Park Service
Sheehan D. 2014. Chambers- Murphy Farm: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Harpers Ferry National Historic Park, National Park Service. Cultural Landscapes Inventory Report. 600292. NPS National Capital Region. National Capital Regional Office/ CLI Database
The Chambers‑Murphy Farm is a component landscape of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. It is located approximately three‑quarters of a mile southwest of the town of Bolivar, West Virginia, between U.S. Highway 340 and the Shenandoah River It occupies a high, open bluff above the Shenandoah River two miles upriver from its confluence with the Potomac River at Harpers Ferry. This bluff is the southwestern end of Bolivar Heights, a low, 1.7 mile ridge spanning the Harpers Ferry peninsula about 2 miles west of the confluence. The inventory unit is bounded to the north by Murphy Road and the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park Visitor’s Center on Cavalier Heights; to the east and south by the Shenandoah River, and to the west by a steep draw which separates it from Recreational Adventures Campground, LLC (KOA). The farm currently encompasses approximately 98 acres. Built features are scarce on the property, with the Main House as the only extant historic building. Other historic landscape features include Civil War era earthworks, the foundation of the former site of John Browns Fort and some historic vegetation. As a component landscape of Harpers Ferry National Historic Park the landscape derives national significance as a contributing site under National Register Criterion A in the area of military history, social history and ethnic heritage (Black) and Criterion D for its military, domestic, and pre‑historic archeological potential. It has two periods of significance; 1861‑1865, the Civil War era, and 1895‑1909, the period during which it was the home of John Browns Fort.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Sheehan, David
- Date of Issue
- 2014-09-16
- Publisher
- NPS National Capital Region
- Units
- HAFE , NCR
- Keywords
- 1862), Agricultural Field, Agriculture/ Subsistence, Battery, Battle of Harpers Ferrry (September 13-15, Battles in the North and South, Buena Vista, Chambers Farm, Chambers-Muprhy Farm, Confederate General Stonewall Jackson, Fortification, Harpers Ferry, Historic Site, John Brown's Fort, Monument (Marker), Murphy Farm, Niagra Movement, Recreation/ Culture, Single Family Dwelling, Storer College, The Civil War, Union General Rufus Saxton