Staycation at John Brown Wax Museum in West Virginia
January 6th, 2010
John Brown Wax Museum
John Brown is sometimes described as a murderous fanatic, sometimes as a misunderstood martyr. He’s best known for leading an 1859 slave uprising in Harpers Ferry, which killed several people and freed no slaves. Inept as it was, it was more than anyone else was doing at the time, so Brown is remembered as a man with good intentions and bad execution. He had the fierce look of an Old Testament prophet, and he had a song written about his corpse that was later turned into The Battle Hymn of the Republic.
Preserved historic building houses wax museum.
The John Brown Wax Museum tells Brown’s larger-than-life story, and exists today because the block on which it stands became a protected National Historical Park shortly after the museum opened in 1961. The museum thus offers a rare glimpse of Kennedy-era tourism, preserved in all of its cheesy glory.
The museum’s dioramas are scattered throughout a small, old house. You begin the self-guided tour on the first floor, walk your way up to the third floor, then all the way down to the basement, winding through narrow, dark, windowless hallways. Most of the displays have big, green buttons that you can push, with an audible clunk, to hear a taped voice repeat what’s on the sign in front of you
Address:
168 High St., Harpers Ferry, WV
Directions:
Take US 340 to town. Turn north onto Shenandoah St. just west of the river. Drive into town, past High St., and turn left onto Potomac St. Park in the lot to the right, then walk up the hillside staircase to High St. The museum will be on the left.
Hours:
Daily 9-5; closed during winter (Call to verify)
Phone:
304-535-6342
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Have FUN!
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