CWPT Raises Funds For Harpers Ferry Purchase
By Deborah Fitts
June 2002, HARPERS FERRY, W.Va.

A 232-acre property that comprises a key portion of the famous Schoolhouse Ridge battlefield at Harpers Ferry is the target of a fundraising campaign by the Civil War Preservation Trust.

The Trust announced April 19 the launch of a major drive to raise nearly $200,000 towards purchase of the tract. The undeveloped land, the property of the late Dixie Kilham, has a price tag of $1.7 million, according to Trust spokesman Jim Campi.

Campi said in mid-May that the Trust hoped to "wrap up" the purchase in 90 to 120 days.

The property lies outside the boundary of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. Dennis Frye, former chief historian at the park, likened the importance of Schoolhouse Ridge to Seminary Ridge at Gettysburg.

"It is unbelievable that the entire Confederate battlefield is adjacent to, but outside of, the present national park boundary," Frye said.

The high ground above Harpers Ferry provided Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson with the advantage in his September 1862 bombardment and capture of the Union garrison.

Campi said most of the money for the purchase is expected to come from the federal Land & Water Conservation Fund. A total of $11 million was recently set aside for battlefield purchases. In 1995, the Trust bought 56 undeveloped acres immediately across the road from the Schoolhouse Ridge tract.

Campi said it is hoped that the Schoolhouse Ridge land will ultimately be incorporated into the park. The Trust included Harpers Ferry as one of its 10 most endangered battlefields this year.