Nash Farm (Harpers Ferry National Historical Park)
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
The Nash Farm was donated to Harpers Ferry National Historical Park in the 1990s by Bradley D. and Ruth Cowan Nash. Bradley Nash was a strong supporter of the development of Harpers Ferry NHP and served as mayor of Harpers Ferry. The current farm complex includes the main house (a 1.5 story frame house on a concrete block foundation), a dairy barn, milk house, tenant house, sheds, and a “chapel” that was likely originally a springhouse.
Images
Bradley Nash Farm
Main House, c. 1998
Main House, Basement Stairs, c. 1998.
Main House, 1st Floor, c. 1998
Main House, 1st Floor, c. 1998
Main House. The "Big House" was restored by the NPS in 2009.
Back of the Main House
Main House, side, restored by NPS in 2009
Milk House/Apartment, c. 1998
Milk House, front
Milk House, rear
Springhouse Chapel, c. 1998
Barn and Tenant House, c. 1998
Dairy barn and wildlife sanctuary marker on the Nash Farm
Back of Dairy Barn and Tenant House
Barn Interior, c. 1998
Inside of Dairy Barn during 2009 rehabilitation
Wildlife sanctuary marker on the Nash Farm
Sketch of Nash Farm
It is possible that artillery guns from Captain John H. Graham's Company A, 5th New York Heavy Artillery were stationed on the Nash property during the 1862 Battle of Harpers Ferry.
Battlemap of Harpers Ferry, September 13-15, 1862. A portion of Graham's battery is stationed at the top of the Bolivar Heights Union line around the location of the Nash property. (Map by Steven Stanley, American Battlefield Trust)
There is a lunette on the Nash property, which indicates a possible artillery position there. "Bolivar Heights, 639 acres, Nash Tract #45 Double Lynette."
"Bolivar Heights; Location: Lunette,BD Nash 639 acres; overlooks old Furnace Rd(in use during time of battles and on land already donate by MrNash."
This report details that Captain Graham moved three artillery pieces to the far right position of the Bolivar Heights line on September 13 while the remainder of his battery stayed on Camp Hill [Report of Maj. Henry B. McIlvaine, Fifth New York Heavy Artillery, September 19, 1862]
"Bradley Nash, Conrad Wirth, Gil Perry, Murray Nelligan, Frank Anderson, John Brown Fort at Storer College, 3-1958."
"MAYOR BRADLEY NASH (Harpers Ferry) ABE LINCOLN (Joe Leisch) and MRS. LINCOLN (Mrs. Leisch) and Lesich children in the Victorian Parlor of the Master Armorer's House during the Old Fashion Christmas-1974."
"Lewis Nichols, Brad Nash, Walter Garrison, , Joe Prentice (Supt. Hrpers Ferry…, Senator Jennings Ranolph, Mayor Perry, (question as to whether the date is 1953 or 1963---Prentice not at HAFE until 1960(s)."
"LIGHTING OF STREET LIGHT- Top of Stone Steps. Celebration of the 1st Old, Fashion Christmas. Participants in lighting: Marc Sagan, HFCenter Manager, Mayor Nash.... Top of Stone Steps- Harpers Ferry, W.Va."
"Dedication Plaque to Blacks in American History. (John Brown Raiders) Special, Guests, Supt. Martin R. Conway, Wedon Malone, Mayor Bradley D. Nash."
Bradley Nash and (possibly) Ruth Nash at the Bicentennial Celebration near the Master Armorer's House, 1976
Cowen covering WWII in Virton, Belgium in 1944
Ruth Cowan with a portrait of her in Army uniform
Ruth Cowan Nash (National Women's History Alliance)
Spirit of Jefferson Farmers Advocate, April 26, 1973
"PLAQUE - "Bradley D. Nash" - Dedication of Flagstaff. Location: Master Armorer's House Yard along Shenandoah Street."
"Flag Staff Dedication to Bradley D. Nash, former mayor of Harpers Ferry," April 14, 1973.
"Flag Staff Dedication to Bradley D. Nash, former mayor of Harpers Ferry," April 14, 1973.
"Flag Staff Dedication to Bradley D. Nash, former mayor of Harpers Ferry," April 14, 1973.
Section of the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park Boundary Revision Act of 2004 that includes the "Bradley and Ruth Nash Addition."
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
Like most of Harpers Ferry, the Nash property was initially part of the government property purchased to support the federal armory in the early 1800s. The government organized their tract into blocks and lots along a grid of streets and prior to the Civil War they sold of some pieces of their property to private buyers. The town of Harpers Ferry was incorporated in 1851 and the government began selling lots the next year. What ultimately became the Nash Farm was originally labeled Block 3, it was the northwest-most government lot and Thomas Jenkins purchased it in 1852. Jenkins owned the property through the Civil War but did not develop it. It is likely that the wooded lot and spring on the tract were used by Union soldiers during the 1862 occupation. It is also likely that Union artillery was positioned on or near the Jenkins property during the September 1862 attack on Harpers Ferry by Confederate Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s Corps. Between September 13-15, 1862 a portion of Captain John H. Graham’s Company A, 5th New York Heavy Artillery was stationed at the far right of the Union line on Bolivar Heights in a position that may have extended onto the Jenkins tract.
After the Civil War Thomas Jenkins sold the lot to Christian Nichol for $621 in 1866. Nichol began making improvements on the property by constructing a house and brewery and took out a mortgage with Frances Zoll under two deeds of trust to fund the construction. Three years later, Nichol was unable to pay the debts and the lot was sold at public sale to Francis Zoll for $1200 ($1100 of which was applied to Nichol’s debt). The Zoll family owned the land until 1885. It is unclear what happened to the brewery business because while the lot continued to be called the “brewery lot” the property value decreased sharply and the brewery was not operating by 1885. That year John Zoll sold the property (now two plots—the “brewery lot” and an additional 2-acre plot (lot 7 of Block 2)) to J. Garland Hurst for $500.
J. G. Hurst later declared bankruptcy and the two parcels were sold in 1902 and 1903 to separate owners. After a series of different owners, Mary Blaine Barker purchased both tracts from Richard Rutherford in 1928 (Barker also owned several other nearby plots of land). It was Barker that developed the property into a farm and constructed the existing buildings in the 1920s and 1930s. Mary Barker sold the larger 7-acre tract to Bradley D. Nash in 1951 and the Lot 7 parcel to Nash in 1954.
In 1951, Bradley and Ruth Nash settled on the Barker farm and that same year Congress approved appropriations to fund Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. Bradley D. Nash was a WWII veteran and had worked in several federal departments in Washington, D.C. during his career. Ruth was a war correspondent and journalist for the Associated Press and had served in a position in the Eisenhower administration. Bradley Nash used his network of contacts from his federal career, particularly with West Virginia Congressman Jennings Randolph, to garner support for the park. Nash also served as a trustee of Storer College in the years before it closed. As a consequence, after the National Park Service acquired the Storer campus they hired Nash as a Historian to research the history of the college for two years in 1963. The impact of Nash’s support on Harpers Ferry NHP was so great that the park dedicated a flagstaff to him in Arsenal Square of downtown Harpers Ferry in 1973. Nash also served as Mayor of Harpers Ferry twice, 1971-1977 and 1981-1987.
In the 1980s, Ruth and Bradley Nash donated a portion of their property to the National Park Service as a wildlife sanctuary and in 1990-1991 they donated the remainder of their land to the National Park Service with the agreement that they could live the remainder of their lives there. Ruth Nash died in 1993 at age 91 and Bradley Nash died in 1997 at age 96.
Sources
“Flagstaff Dedicated in Harpers Ferry Park to Mayor Bradley Nash.” Spirit of Jefferson Farmers Advocate. April 26, 1973. Accessed October 4, 2021. http://sjf.stparchive.com/Archive/SJF/SJF04261973P17.php.
“National Register of Historic Places Registration Form—Bradley Nash Farm.” Accessed October 4, 2021. https://wvculture.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Bradley-nash-farm.pdf.
Pace, Eric. “Bradley D. Nash, 96, An Eisenhower Aide and Reform Expert.” New York Times. January 3, 1997. Accessed October 4, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/03/us/bradley-d-nash-96-an-eisenhower-aide-and-reform-expert.html.
“Pioneering War Correspondent Ruth Cowan Dies at 91.” Associated Press. February 5, 1993. Accessed October 4, 2021. https://apnews.com/article/c7b81697467cd1c2e4efec73c1972ddf.
The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 19, Part 1: Reports. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924079609610&view=1up&seq=3&skin=2021.
Google Maps. Accessed October 4, 2021.
National Register of Historic Places Documentation--Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. Accessed October 14, 2021. http://npshistory.com/publications/hafe/nr-harpers-ferry-nhp.pdf.
National Register of Historic Places Documentation--Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. Accessed October 14, 2021. http://npshistory.com/publications/hafe/nr-harpers-ferry-nhp.pdf.
National Register of Historic Places Documentation--Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. Accessed October 14, 2021. http://npshistory.com/publications/hafe/nr-harpers-ferry-nhp.pdf.
National Register of Historic Places Documentation--Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. Accessed October 14, 2021. http://npshistory.com/publications/hafe/nr-harpers-ferry-nhp.pdf.
Google Maps. Accessed October 4, 2021.
NPGallery Digital Asset Management System. Accessed October 4, 2021. https://npgallery.nps.gov/SearchResults?pagesize=60&keyword=nash%20farm.
NPGallery Digital Asset Management System. Accessed October 4, 2021. https://npgallery.nps.gov/SearchResults?pagesize=60&keyword=nash%20farm.
National Register of Historic Places Documentation--Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. Accessed October 14, 2021. http://npshistory.com/publications/hafe/nr-harpers-ferry-nhp.pdf.
Google Maps. Accessed October 4, 2021.
NPGallery Digital Asset Management System. Accessed October 4, 2021. https://npgallery.nps.gov/SearchResults?pagesize=60&keyword=nash%20farm.
National Register of Historic Places Documentation--Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. Accessed October 14, 2021. http://npshistory.com/publications/hafe/nr-harpers-ferry-nhp.pdf.
National Register of Historic Places Documentation--Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. Accessed October 14, 2021. http://npshistory.com/publications/hafe/nr-harpers-ferry-nhp.pdf.
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National Register of Historic Places Documentation--Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. Accessed October 14, 2021. http://npshistory.com/publications/hafe/nr-harpers-ferry-nhp.pdf.
NPGallery Digital Asset Management System. Accessed October 4, 2021. https://npgallery.nps.gov/SearchResults?pagesize=60&keyword=nash%20farm.
"Nash Farm." Harpers Ferry-Bolivar Historic Town Foundation. August 9, 2021. Accessed October 4, 2021. https://historicharpersferry.org/blog/nash-farm/.
“National Register of Historic Places Registration Form—Bradley Nash Farm.” Accessed October 4, 2021. https://wvculture.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Bradley-nash-farm.pdf.
"John H. Graham." Wikipedia. Accessed October 4, 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_H._Graham.
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"Report of Maj. Henry B. McIlvaine, Fifth New York Heavy Artillery, of operations at Harper's Ferry August 27-September 15." The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Series I, Volume 19, Part I: Reports. Page 547. Accessed through HathiTrust, October 4, 2021. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924079609610&view=1up&seq=3&skin=2021.
"Bradley Nash, Conrad Wirth, Gil Perry, Murray Nelligan, and Frank Anderson." Open Parks Network. HAFE-1359_NHF1777. Accessed October 4, 2021. https://openparksnetwork.org/single-item-view/?oid=OPN_NS:D08025DA082031A3EC6AFB0591FE1DF6&b=https%3A%2F%2Fopenparksnetwork.org%2Fsearch-results%2F%3Fk%3Dsubjecttopic%253A%2522african%2520american%2520universities%2520and%2520colleges%2520%2522%26opn_refine_control%3Djump%26xi%3D61%26xm%3D20%26sf%3Ddate&b=https%3A%2F%2Fopenparksnetwork.org%2Fsearch-results%2F%3Fk%3Dsubjecttopic%253A%2522african%2520american%2520universities%2520and%2520colleges%2520%2522%26opn_refine_control%3Djump%26xi%3D61%26xm%3D20%26sf%3Ddate.
"Mayor Bradley Nash of Harpers Ferry, Abe Lincoln, Joe Leisch, and Mary Lincoln, Mrs. Leisch, in Victorian Parlor, Master Armorer's House, 1974." Open Parks Network. HAFE-1359_NHF3481-E. Accessed October 4, 2021. https://openparksnetwork.org/single-item-view/?oid=OPN_NS:6D733A70CDF3670C438323FD6004F7B5&b=https%3A%2F%2Fopenparksnetwork.org%2Fsearch-results%2F%3Fk%3Dnash%26opn_refine_control%3Djump%26xi%3D21%26xm%3D20%26sf%3D%26facet-contributinginstitution%5B%5D%3DHarpers%2520Ferry%2520National%2520Historical%2520Park&b=https%3A%2F%2Fopenparksnetwork.org%2Fsearch-results%2F%3Fk%3Dnash%26opn_refine_control%3Djump%26xi%3D21%26xm%3D20%26sf%3D%26facet-contributinginstitution%5B%5D%3DHarpers%2520Ferry%2520National%2520Historical%2520Park.
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