The National Park Service is proposing to raze the Henkle farmhouse and four other structures at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park in West Virginia/LOC
Five post-Civil War structures within Harpers Ferry National Historical Park in West Virginia that are in dilapidated condition would be razed under a proposal the National Park Service has opened to public comment.
The structures, located in a wooded area on Schoolhouse Ridge South about a mile south of Route 340 along Millville Road, are in a severe state of disrepair and pose a serious safety hazard to visitors and staff, according to the Park Service. Through this project, the park staff would remove the structures while leaving the foundations and any contributing cultural landscape features in place, including ornamental trees, shrubs and flowers. By removing these buildings, the existing landscape will more closely resemble the battlefield cultural landscape of the Battle of Harpers Ferry in 1862.
Jacob “Furl” Henkle built his house and established Henkle Farm sometime after 1906, Park Service records show. The family then sold the property to the Standard Lime & Stone Company. The company likely built the dairy barn, milk house, silo, and shed/corn crib after 1920. The Standard Lime & Stone Company abandoned the farm in the 1950s, and it has since sat vacant and unused.
Comments on the proposal are being taken through September 22. You can learn more about the project and leave your comments at this website.
Comments
A NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK is tearing down historical structures. Hmmm.
And still many--many right here on NPT--advocate for the NPS to acquire more properrties to manage as parks!
Until the NPS can get its act together, and meet its statutory oblgation to PRESERVE its properties, there should be no more funding incresses or property acquisitions.
Enough.
The historical park was established to commemorate "important events and issues related to John Brown, the Civil War, and Storer College, the only institution of higher education available to Black people in West Virginia prior to 1891."
https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/270
A dilapidated farmhouse and associated buildings constructed in and after 1906 have nothing to do with that history and do not contribute to the park's role.
I second that.
The headline of the article should be " Park service to Erase old buildings" like they want to do with all of our history.
These historical buildings should be PRESERVED, not torn down!
As an avid repeat visitor to Harpers Ferry for hiking, I applaud the removal of 20th Century derelict buildings from the site. Schoolhouse Ridge is famous as the Confederate line during the Battle of Bolivar Heights, and the removal of structures that were not present in the 1860s is actually a form of historic preservation and renewal. Anyone complaining about the removal is not a student of history nor likely even a visitor to the National Park. Those derelict buildings have no true historical value other than simply being old.
These structures, while old, are not from the era that the Park was established to commemorate. In fact, their presence interferes with that mission as they occupy hallowed ground over which men fought and bled
And since they also present a hazard to the public, they should go. NPS funds are too scarce to be spent on restoring structures not present during the Civil War.
I agree with tearing down the structures. As everyone else has mentioned, these are not from the era the park was established to commemorate and actually obscure part of the historical landscape. Plus, their is dangerous for anyone exploring the area.