Lockwood House

During the Civil War the Lockwood House served as headquarters for Union generals, and after the war it was the site of a school for African Americans and became part of Storer College.

Located on Camp Hill in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, the Lockwood House was built in 1847 as the residence for the U.S. Armory paymaster. During the Civil War, Union generals Henry H. Lockwood and Philip H. Sheridan used the building as headquarters. In November 1863 Union forces held a Thanksgiving ball in the house, and at other times the building was used as a hospital and a prison

After the war, in 1865 Rev. Nathan Cook Brackett, of the Freewill Baptist Home Mission Society in New England, established a Freewill Baptist primary school for African Americans, many freed slaves, in the building. The school taught reading, writing, and arithmetic to its students, using missionary teachers. By 1867 sixteen teachers were responsible for teaching over two thousand students. To increase the number of teachers, Brackett determined that he needed to train African Americans to become teachers.

Inspired by Brackett’s efforts, Maine philanthropist John Storer offered the Freewill Baptists $10,000 for a school if it would admit students without regard to race, sex or religion; if it would eventually became a degree-granting institution; and if it would match the grant within a year. After the money was raised, on October 2, 1867, Storer Normal School opened its doors. In December 1869 the U.S. government formerly conveyed the Lockwood House and three other buildings on Camp Hill to the school. The school became Storer College and served thousands of African American students until it closed in 1955. In 1960 the Lockwood House, along with the rest of the Storer College campus, was incorporated in the Harpers Ferry National Historical Monument. The house has been restored to its Civil War-era appearance, with two rooms furnished from the early period when the building was used as a school.