Harpers Ferry Armory Harpers Ferry Armory , more formally known as the United States Armory and Arsenal at Harpers Ferry , was the second federal armory commissioned by the United States government . It was located in Harpers Ferry , West Virginia ( then part of Virginia ) , while the first federal armory was the Springfield Armory located in Springfield , Massachusetts . In many books the town is called “ Harper ’ s Ferry ” with an apostrophe . The national armory has been associated with many prominent historical events throughout the history of the United States . Harpers Ferry National Armory was both an armory and an arsenal . An arsenal is a place for the storage and the production of larger caliber arms , such as cannons & howitzers and military equipment while an armory is a facility for the manufacture & storage of small caliber arms , such a rifles , carbines & machine guns . History . Harpers Ferry . Robert Harper founded the community of Harpers Ferry in the mid - 18th century . Robert Harper was born in 1718 in Oxford Township near Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . Since he was a builder , Harper was asked by a group of Quakers in 1747 to build a meeting house in the Shenandoah Valley near the present site of Winchester , Virginia . Traveling through Maryland on his way to the Shenandoah Valley , Harper proceeded to the area where the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers met . Attracted and amazed by the ample latent waterpower that resided in the rivers and by the strategic location for travel and transport , Harper obtained a patent for of the land in 1751 . He built a ferry to cross the Shenandoah River to help pioneers reach their destination in the new western lands . After the creation of the ferry , more people were attracted to the area and it became a transportation hub dotted with flourishing businesses . The national armory . In 1794 , the United States Congress passed a bill calling " " for the erecting and repairing of Arsenals and Magazines " " . President George Washington , given wide latitude in carrying out this order , selected Harpers Ferry , then a part of Virginia , for the location of the Harpers Ferry National Armory . In 1796 , the United States government purchased a parcel of land from the heirs of Robert Harper . Subsequently in 1799 , construction began on the national armory . Three years later , mass production of military arms commenced . The national armory at Harpers Ferry was actually the second national armory . The first was the Springfield Armory , constructed in Springfield , Massachusetts in 1794 after Congress approved the bill to create the nation ' s first national armory . Upon its grand opening , the armory ' s size seemed inadequate for a work force . It consisted of only one room , and the workers numbered a mere twenty - five . Nevertheless , the armory produced many muskets , rifles , and later pistols for the United States . The average annual production rate was estimated to have been ten thousand weapons per year . The building relied on river power to drive the armory ' s machinery . In 1811 the M1819 Hall rifle was designed by Captain John Hall . In 1819 it was adopted by the U . S . Army and produced at Harpers Ferry . Expansion and upgrades . In 1844 , the deficient state of the armory was taken into account and demand for military equipment increased , and so the renovation and expansion of the armory was undertaken . The upgrades of the arsenal began in 1845 - 1854 with the construction of seven brand new workshops and the installation of 121 new machines . The new workshops had a brick superstructure with iron framing and slanted sheet metal roofing . These reconstructed arsenal buildings became collectively known as the " U . S . Musket Factory " . The armory canal was enlarged so that more water could get to the armory , which meant it would receive more power . Along with the enlargement of the canal , seven new water turbines were installed . Furthermore , heavier mill work was put into the building , which meant stronger metal equipment used for making the equipment . All the expansions of the armory were done on a heavy stone foundation . In addition , more people were employed to work at the armory than before : the labor force increased from a minuscule twenty - five in 1802 to about four hundred workers in 1859 . Furthermore , the working conditions improved , but only slightly . John Brown ' s Raid . In 1859 , the armory became the site of the famous seizure by abolitionist John Brown , which , while unsuccessful in inciting a slave revolt , helped precipitate the American Civil War and the eventual emancipation of slaves in the United States . During the Civil War . While Virginia was still in the union , the armory regularly shipped manufactured weapons and material throughout the United States . However , once the Civil War began , the national armory became a vital control point for both the Confederates and the Union . Close to the beginning of the war on April 18 , 1861 , just a day after Virginia ' s conventional ratification of secession , Union soldiers , outnumbered and deprived of reinforcements , set fire to their own armory in an attempt to thwart the usage of it by an advancing Virginian Confederate militia numbering 360 men in all . Harpers Ferry residents ( many of who made their living off the armory ) were able to put out the fires swiftly enough to save most of the armory ' s weapon - making machinery . After rescuing the equipment , the Confederates shipped it south . Two weeks later , the Confederates abandoned Harpers Ferry . The Southern forces confiscated what was left in the armory and burned the rest of the remaining armory buildings . They also blew up the railroad bridge of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad . The armory ' s strategic location . During the Civil War , the armory became a site of great strategic importance because it was located very close to the Mason - Dixon line , or the border between the free and the slave - holding states . Consequently , the Union used it as an effective means to supply troops with weapons quickly as they marched into battle . The downside to being on the border was that the armory could easily change hands and fall into Confederate control - the armory changed hands a total of seven times during the Civil War . Furthermore , the armory proved to be a very strategic location as a battleground because it was situated beside a major river ( the Potomac ) which served as a natural defense on the north side . Another feature is that almost the whole area of Harpers Ferry is surrounded by mountains , which supplemented the defense provided by the river . However , transportation was easily facilitated , as the B & O railway ran along the area where the armory was . Aftermath of the Civil War . After the Civil War , John Brown ' s Fort was the only building to survive the destruction wrought upon it by the Confederates and the Union . The building was named after John Brown for his notorious raid on the Harpers Ferry Armory in 1859 . The building was the armory ' s fire engine and guard house . Today the site is mostly covered by railroad track embankments .