Things to Do in Harpers Ferry: Haunted History & Ghost Tour

The best things to do in Harpers Ferry combine its nationally significant historic sites with the ghost stories attached to them. Many locations on the Harpers Ferry ghost walking tour are historically documented even when their paranormal associations remain part of local legend.

1. St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church
Completed in 1833 and later remodeled into its present Gothic Revival appearance, St. Peter's occupies one of the most dramatic hillside positions in Harpers Ferry. During the Civil War, Father Michael Costello flew a British Union Jack to signal neutrality; the church escaped the conflict relatively unscathed and was also used as a hospital. Costello died in 1867 and is buried nearby.

2. Harper House & the Stone Stairways
Robert Harper began construction on the Harper House in 1775, and it was finished in 1782. It is the oldest surviving building associated with Harpers Ferry's namesake, although the National Park Service currently lists the interior as temporarily closed. National Park Service
The steep historic steps around the house are part of the atmosphere of the Harpers Ferry ghost tour, especially as the route descends toward Lower Town.

3. Arsenal Square
The federal armory and arsenal made Harpers Ferry strategically important and ultimately drew John Brown here in 1859. Much of the original complex disappeared through destruction and redevelopment, but the landscape remains central to understanding both the raid and the Civil War.
Ghost-tour stories interpret this ground through the violence that occurred around it, while the surviving archaeology and interpretive exhibits provide the documented context.

4. John Brown's Fort
Originally built in 1848 as an armory fire-engine and guard house, this tiny brick structure became John Brown's final stronghold during the raid of October 16–18, 1859. U.S. Marines stormed it on October 18, and Brown was later tried and executed in nearby Charles Town. National Park Service
Ghost lore describes an older bearded man near the fort who is sometimes identified as Brown. One version tells of visitors believing they had photographed themselves beside a reenactor, only to find the figure absent from the picture. This remains an unverified paranormal story.

5. Hog Alley & Dangerfield Newby
Dangerfield Newby had been enslaved from birth, gained his freedom, and joined Brown in an attempt to help liberate his wife and children, who remained enslaved in Virginia. He became the first of Brown's raiders killed during the Harpers Ferry attack on October 17, 1859. Letters from his wife were later found on his body. National Park Service
Local ghost lore describes an old-fashioned male figure walking through Hog Alley as though searching for something. The apparition is legend; Newby's death and his reasons for joining Brown are historically documented.

6. Harpers Ferry Train Station & Screaming Jenny
Few Harpers Ferry paranormal stories are as enduring as Screaming Jenny. The legend describes a woman whose clothing caught fire near the railroad before she ran onto the tracks and was struck by a train. Later railroad workers were allegedly said to see a burning figure running toward their locomotives.

The story has circulated in Harpers Ferry folklore for decades, including twentieth-century newspaper accounts, but researchers have not established a contemporary nineteenth-century death or railroad record proving the incident exactly as the legend tells it.

7. Harper Cemetery
Robert Harper set aside four acres for a cemetery, and he was buried there after his death in 1782. The cemetery contains graves connected to early Harpers Ferry families as well as later Irish and German immigrants.

Ghost-tour tradition adds reports of cold spots, shadowy shapes and silent figures near the trees. These should be understood as reported experiences rather than documented supernatural events.

8. Lockwood House
Built in 1848 as the residence of the U.S. Armory paymaster, Lockwood House later served as a military headquarters, hospital, jail, medical-supply facility and, after the Civil War, a school for formerly enslaved people. It became part of Storer College's early history.

Reported footsteps, unexplained noises and dark human-shaped figures have since entered Harpers Ferry paranormal lore. Its documented history alone makes it one of the most compelling stops on Camp Hill.