Harpers Ferry Ghost Tour

St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church

Perched above Lower Town, St. Peter’s survived the Civil War while much of Harpers Ferry suffered severe damage. Father Michael Costello, who remained here throughout the war and used the church as a hospital, died in 1867 at only thirty-four and is buried in the church cemetery; according to the script, he is the ghost visitors most often report seeing here.

Harper House & the Appalachian Trail Staircase

The route descends from the church past the historic Harper House and onto old stone steps now connected to the Appalachian Trail. The hand-cut staircase carries you deeper into Lower Town, with uneven stones underfoot and some of Harpers Ferry’s oldest surroundings closing in around you.

Arsenal Square

The remains of Harpers Ferry’s federal armory and arsenal bring the walk into the landscape at the center of the violence that transformed the town. The script describes the area as a place where remnants of Harpers Ferry’s violent past are still said to linger before the route continues toward John Brown’s Fort.

John Brown’s Fort

This small brick building was originally an armory fire engine and guard house, but in October 1859 it became the last refuge of John Brown and his surviving raiders. Local ghost stories describe an older bearded man near the building sometimes identified as Brown who can appear solid enough to be mistaken for a living reenactor, including a story in which visitors reportedly posed beside the mysterious figure only to find nobody there when they examined the photograph.

Hog Alley

Dangerfield Newby, a formerly enslaved blacksmith trying to free his wife Harriet and their children from slavery, joined John Brown and became the first of Brown’s raiders killed during the attack. Local ghost lore describes a solitary man wearing an old-fashioned hat walking through Hog Alley with his head lowered, seemingly searching for something and showing little interest in the living.

Harpers Ferry Train Station

Stand safely away from the tracks and listen for the story of Screaming Jenny, one of Harpers Ferry’s most disturbing railroad legends. According to the tale, Jenny caught fire while trying to keep warm, ran onto the railroad tracks, and was struck by a train; later engineers were said to report a burning female figure racing along the rails toward their locomotives, only for no body or evidence to be found afterward.

Harpers Cemetery

Robert Harper set aside these four hillside acres as a burial ground in 1782 and was buried here that same year. Over generations, markers vanished and records were lost, while local ghost stories developed around unexplained cold spots, shapes near the trees, and silent humanlike figures reportedly seen standing among the graves and looking toward the rivers.

Lockwood House

The final haunted location is a large brick and stone house whose rooms served many purposes, including a paymaster’s residence, military headquarters, jail, medical supply depot, and Civil War hospital. Visitors have reported unexplained noises, footsteps, movement in seemingly empty rooms, and dark human-shaped figures stories attached to a building that later became a school for newly freed African Americans after the war.