Best of 2014: A house on a hilltop
GC1H9T3 – A house on a hilltop
Hidden by GR8Caches
198 Favorite Points
Found on November 8, 2014
Harper’s Ferry is unique among places in West Virginia. Like nearby Shepherdstown, it feels very much like it does not belong in West Virginia. Culturally it is very distinct from the rest of the state. I am not sure that was always the case, given the sentiments that led to the creation of West Virginia during the Civil War, but I think geography has had a cumulative effect. What may have been less significant differences in the past are magnified now due to the varying effects time has had on the different geographies. Jefferson County, and even Berkeley and Morgan counties are geographically remote from the rest of the state. The years have been kinder to the Eastern Panhandle than the Southern Coalfields, though sometimes the strangest things can link different places together in our memories.
The geocache itself is simple, it is an ammocan chained to a base (so it will not grow legs and wander off!) tucked between a bench and a tree. It is easy to be so explicit when the cache description is equally explicit. The point of this cache isn’t the container. The point of this cache is… well, I guess it is supposed to be the view but I was at least equally intrigued by the hulking dilapidated structure next to it.
The cache overlooks the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers. It is a far less strenuous approach to a similar view that can be achieved after a difficult hike that is not always open and accessible on the Maryland side of the Potomac (when we visited, some locals said that the area had been closed off to let nature have some time to recover from a heavy trampling from a heavy tourism season). The view is stunning. The hydrology is impressive. The generations of bridges and their remnants over each river enough to make the hearts of any engineer pound with passionate delight. It is no wonder these rivers have inspired songs for hundreds of years, including West Virginia fan favorite, Take Me Home, Country Roads.
The Potomac and Shenandoah rivers at Harpers Ferry
But once you catch your breath from the view in front of you, there is the mysterious case of the dilapidated building behind you. We were lucky enough on the day we visited to have some locals show up at about the same time, and they were able to at least give some basic information. This enormous building is the Hilltop House (a better and more eloquent history is here) and it was occupied until about 2008. It has deteriorated substantially since then, with clear and substantial damage to the roof and internal and external vandalism (including arson). Locals desire to return the building to its former use, but I fear it is too far gone.
The dilapidated Hilltop House
The Hilltop House was established in 1888 by an African American entrepreneur, Thomas Lovett. The current structure is the third Hilltop House, built after the second one burned down in 1919. Though the structure is one of the remnants of a significant history in Harpers Ferry for the empowerment of African Americans, it was home to Storer College, a historically black college dedicated to educating African American teachers and leaders—of which it graduated many.
Of all of the geocaches found in 2014, this may win for most interesting and unique structure. It was also somewhat unexpected. It took me back to an experience I had four years earlier when I visited Logan in the Southern Coalfields to see the ruins of the historic Aracoma Hotel after much of that structure had entirely collapsed as a result of an extensive fire.