Fr. Steve:
Yes. that's correct. I went to an auction there in 1980 or 1981, and found myself bidding on the wooden chest upon which Brown rode to his fate. I stopped at $500 or so and it went for $650 by the local historical society. I wish now I'd persevered. The wagon was also up for bids, but as I had no place to put it I didn't bother with a bid.
Charles Town is a great place to live now, and has actually become a bedroom community for DC and environs. A lot of people live there and commute into Loudoun and Fairfax Counties in Virginia. I took the train from Harpers Ferry right into DC and walked to my office from Union Station.
The tax rates in WV were about a quarter what they were across the river in Virginia. On the other hand, you got what you paid for.
Beautiful country with some very strange inhabitants.
I had a tavern there for a while, and had a couple of old geezers come in for a beer who swore they had never been outside Jefferson County, WV, even though it is only 430 square miles surrounded on three sides by either Virginia or Maryland. "Ain't got not reason to go over there." Amazing I lasted a year.
TEd
