Built in 1848, John Brown's Fort was originally constructed for use as a guard and fire engine house for the United States Armory in Harpers Ferry.
On the evening of October 16, 1859, Brown and twenty-one men took over this building. He hoped to seize the arsenal's huge cache of guns and incite
slaves to arm and rebel.Convicted of murder, treason, and inciting slaves to rebellion, he was hanged in nearby Charles Town on December 2, 1859.