Lockwood House is a historic building in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. One of the largest residences in Harpers Ferry, it is a massive stone and brick structure, located on the east side of Camp Hill at 360 Fillmore St., high above the town. It has a view of the town and the two rivers that meet there, the Shenandoah and the Potomac.
The house was built by the U.S. War Department in 1848 to serve as housing for the paymaster at the Harpers Ferry Armory. For three months in 1864, the house served as Union General Henry Lockwood's headquarters during the Civil War, which earned it its name. It was significantly renovated in 1858, shortly before the Civil War, and again in 1883, while a part of Storer College. During the Civil War it was first used in 1862 as a military hospital, called Clayton Hospital, and then by Army officers of both sides. In 1865, it became the first building of Storer College, which eventually added a third floor (later removed in restoration work by the National Park Service).
The paymaster's quarters
The Lockwood House was first constructed in 1848. Maj. Henry K. Craig, served at the Armory Superintendent from 1841 to 1844. Craig suggested significant improvements to both the musket and rifle factories, as well as repairs to the armory canal, and the “erection of Quarters for the Commanding Officer and Paymaster". Maj. John Symington, appointed to replace Maj. Craig at the post of Superintendent of the Armory in 1844, repeated the request for improvements and provided “plans & estimates in detail for new structures and alterations and repairs to old buildings at this Armory."
Civil War period
The Armory was destroyed early in the Civil War. With the outbreak of Civil War in 1861 and the destruction of the armory installation, Harpers Ferry, its people, industry, and their associated buildings, began many years of struggle to establish a new identity. Symbolic of this transition, both in politics and industry, the former armory Paymaster's Quarters was used during the Civil War as Headquarters for Union Generals, including General Sheridan and General Henry H. Lockwood whose name remained permanently associated with the house, and to house prisoners of war, wounded soldiers, and medical supplies. Additionally, the loss of the armory at the beginning of the war eventually led to development of new industry, not the least of which was tourism associated both with the scenery and the association of the town with John Brown and the Civil War. "In future years traveler and tourist will eagerly resort [here]...and history will point out [this] as the spot where many acts in the great tragedy, not yet closed, took place." ~ John D. Smith, 19th Main Infantry, September 1862
In August 1864, the house was also used as a headquarters by Union General Philip Sheridan as he prepared for his Valley campaign .
Storer College
Rev. Brackett's school
With the end of the Civil War and the Passage of the 13th Amendment, there was a national effort to educate former enslaved persons. The federal government established the Freedmen's Bureau, an agency dedicated to the assistance of integrating former slaves into society. Freedmen's Bureau activities included relocating, housing, feeding, and clothing the destitute and homeless. In addition, education became an essential element of the bureau's mission. The Lockwood House in Harpers Ferry was the first building to house the newly established Storer School. Reverend Nathan Cook Brackett a member of New England's Freewill Baptist Home Mission Society, established a primary school in the war-torn building. He taught basic fundamentals including reading, writing, and arithmetic to the children of former slaves and their parents.