Setting right on the boarder of Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia, Harpers Ferry still maintains one foot in the past and one in the present! It is situated where the the Potomac and the Shenandoah River meet...this is called a confluence.
The Appalachian Trail passes directly through town and Harpers Valley is considered the half way mark, so this is where the Appalachian Trail Conservancy is headquartered. You can tell the tourists from the trail people, of course by the way they are dressed, this one girl asked us if we wanted her to take our picture and after a few questions, I found out she had been on the trail for about 3 months, but due to a foot injury, she was taking the train out of Harpers Ferry to the nearest hospital to have it checked out, hopefully she got to complete her journey!
It is a lovely town and there is a lot of Civil War re-enactment going on because the Civil War was disastrous for Harpers Ferry, the town's strategic location on the railroad and with it being at the northern end of the Shenandoah Valley, both the Confederate and the Union troops moved through Harpers Ferry frequently, making it a continued battlefield. We walked to the old church, Jefferson’s Rock and the old cemetery...beautiful!
This is how Thomas Jefferson described Harpers Ferry.
“On your right comes up the Shenandoah, having ranged along the foot of the mountain a hundred miles to seek a vent. On your left approaches the Patowmac (Potomac) in quest of a passage also. In the moment of their junction they rush together against the mountain, rent it asunder, and pass off to the sea.. this scene is worth a voyage across the Atlantic!”
Today, the majestic beauty of the two rivers and the cliffs surrounding Harpers Ferry draws visitors from all over the world. 
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