Harpers Ferry
noun
a town in NE West Virginia at the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers: site of John Brown's raid 1859.
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Harpers Ferry
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Harper's Ferry
Harper's Ferrynouna village in NE West Virginia, at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers: site of an arsenal seized by John Brown (1859). Pop: 302 (2003 est)
Harpers Ferry
American
[hahr-perz]
/ ˈhɑr pərz /
Or
Harper's Ferry
noun
Harper's Ferry
British
/ ˈhɑːpəz /
noun
Harpers Ferry
Cultural
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
His band quickly took control of a federal armory and rifle factory in the sleeping town of Harpers Ferry.
From Slate ● Apr. 2, 2026
“The thing I’ll miss most from home is my mom’s stuffing, it’s my favorite,” said Clayton Stock-Friends, a young member of the West Virginia National Guard from Harpers Ferry, sporting a red beret and sunglasses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 27, 2025
He was the man who, in 1859, led his sons and fellow abolitionists, Black and white, on a raid of the federal armory at Harpers Ferry in Virginia, now in West Virginia.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 12, 2024
As a solo director, Albert has worked on the hilarious Raid on Harpers Ferry parody "Good Lord Bird," "Alpha" and now, "The Continental: From the World of John Wick."
From Salon ● Oct. 6, 2023
Harpers Ferry itself changed hands eight times during the war, though the record in this regard belongs to Winchester, Virginia, a few miles south, which managed to be captured and recaptured seventy-five times.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
Harper's Ferry, a national park and nearby tourist draw, has been kept open with state money.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2025
Owen moved to Pasadena in the 1880s and was greeted by locals as a hero for fighting alongside his father in the Bleeding Kansas wars and Harper’s Ferry raid.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 28, 2025
In this, he echoes the mixed way the world reacted to the historical Douglass after the Harper’s Ferry raid, when it became clear that Douglass had been asked to participate personally and had refused.
From Slate ● Oct. 19, 2020
On the night of October 16, 1859, John Brown and 18 black and white comrades slipped across the Potomac River from Maryland and seized the federal weapons factory at Harper’s Ferry.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 18, 2018
Later in the day they heard that the United States Government Arsenal at Harper’s Ferry had been seized.
From "Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad" by Ann Petry
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