Historic Structure Report, History Section: Park Building 44
Chickering P and Jenkins MA. 1995. Historic Structure Report, History Section: Park Building 44. Historic Structure Report. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park preserves historic resources and commemorates the historic events that occurred at and around Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. The park consists of portions of the Lower Town, the former Storer College campus, landscapes associated with the national historical park’s Civil War significance, and lands preserving the historic viewshed down the Potomac River. This historic structures report concerns Park Building No. 44 (Wager Lot No. 46) in Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. This document traces the historical development of Park Building No. 44 on Wager Lot No. 46. As with most local structures, developing Park Building 44's quite straightforward physical history contrasts sharply with the difficulty in identifying occupants. Determining occupation is complicated by the fact that, from early in the nineteenth century until well into the twentieth century—even during the forty-year period when the Wager family held a monopoly on privately-owned land—there was (to borrow Snell's phrasing) a game of "musical mercantile chairs" played in Harpers Ferry. The intensity of the game increased with the end of the Wager family monopoly in the 1830s because merchants, when leases expired, were then free to negotiate terms, either with the new owner of their present location or with owners of other buildings in the lower town business district. Merchants who remained in business at Harpers Ferry for a number of years thus often occupied several different "stands."
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Chickering, Patricia; Jenkins, Michael
- Date of Issue
- 1995-08
- Publisher
- U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
- Units
- HAFE , NCR
- Keywords
- Civil War, Philip Coons, Wager Lot, William Richards
- Subjects
- CRIS-HS: 000551: Lower Town; Bldg. #44, Philip Coons Building
Series
See also
- Historic Structure Report, Part II, Administrative and Historical Data: Philip Coons Building (Bldg. 44), and Part I Architectural Data Section.
- Historic Structures Report, Part I, Architectural Data: The Philip Coons Building / Masonic Hall Building (Bldg. 44)