Harpers Ferry

Harpers Ferry, historically stylized as Harper's Ferry, is a town in the Mire region of Appalachia in 2102.

Pre-War
In the decades leading to the Great War, Harpers Ferry became a focal point of the Free States movement. Skeptical of the U.S. government's Vault program, the group used the town as a staging area and supply point for the construction of personal bunkers across the Mire. The movement's conspiracy theories and ideals unnerved patriotic visitors, disrupting the small tourism-dependent town's economy.

As the Sino-American War escalated in 2077, minor conflicts between the Free States, loyalists, and police began to grow into open violence, catching the eye of the government. Soon, local Harpers Ferry business owners were visited by government agents and coerced into providing the names and addresses of suspected Free States members. By May, the clinic began to refuse services to those known to be involved with the group. By June, the military staged a propaganda campaign in the town and began to seize the property of Free States members, citing seditious activity.

Post-War
After the Great War, Harpers Ferry was largely abandoned as emergency services and local survivors struggled to cope with the influx of refugees. In 2078, Vault 94 opened and sent an ambassador to the town to invite survivors back to the vault. By November, the mayor of Harpers Ferry, Miranda Vox, agreed to sent a group of survivors with an ambassador to investigate the vault's claims. Certain that the dwellers' hospitality was a trap, the Harpers Ferry group massacred the vault's leaders and attacked its G.E.C.K. unit, triggering a massive nuclear explosion and further mutating the Mire.

After the Free State members emerged from their bunkers in 2079, the mayor contacted the leader of the movement for assistance. Despite previous conflicts, the movement agreed to provide aid. The rebuilding effort began, turning the town into a major fortress and trading post near the heart of the Mire. By 2084, the town was a prosperous outpost, providing support and food to those in need. Together with the Free States movement, the town cooperated closely with the Brotherhood of Steel, despite the movement's misgivings about the former military group.

After the release of the scorchbeasts by the Enclave, Harpers Ferry quickly deteriorated. The creatures wreaked havoc on the region and infected many townsfolk with the Scorched Plague. By 2086, the town of Harpers Ferry had been severely effected by the disease, with some Free States members retreating back to their bunkers. After scorchbeasts breached the automated anti-air perimeter and began to spread into adjacent regions, Harpers Ferry was rapidly destroyed, forcing the remaining members back into their bunkers as well. The leader of the movement, Raleigh Clay, issued a general order to abandon all recovery efforts of the town.

Layout
On the outskirts of the town is an armory aligned with the Free States. The town itself is encircled by a wall made from scrap with several container box gates. A dominant feature of the town is a church with several workbenches.

The river to the northeast of town can be crossed by using a railroad/highway bridge which leads into a tunnel. However, the tunnel has evidently caved in; one cannot pass through it to the other side. The tunnel contains highly radioactive containers and a railroad car containing a sizable amount of loot. At the mouth of the tunnel is a wooden walkway leading under the bridge and to a path between the cliff and the water which leads to the ransacked bunker.

Points of interest

 * Harpers Ferry is a large town with densely packed residential buildings and a myriad of blind spots. It can be roughly divided into two sections: The fortress, built on the hill surrounding St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church (the neo-gothic building was converted into barracks), and the outer areas, bounded by the state route in the west and the railways to the north-east and south-east.
 * The outer areas consist primarily of townhouses in the northern and eastern section, with John Brown's "Fort" (19th-century firehouse) in the east, where Brown made a stand and was captured in 1859. It has been turned into a museum with numerous civil war-era items
 * Harper's Ferry armory is to the south. The armory requires an access code and contains a plethora of weapons, a steamer trunk, and three workshops (weapons, armor, and tinkering). Potomac Street running northwest to southeast in the northeast part of the town is also part of the outer ring.
 * Outside the fortifications are two manhole covers (North and South) leading to the Burrows.
 * There is a trading post at the northern edge of town, at the northern end of Shenandoah Street, just behind the buildings. It contains a vendor bot for the Free States and a chemistry station.
 * Inside Harpers' fortifications navigation can get confusing, due to the packed environment and passages between houses. At any rate, major points of interest include:
 * The Harpers Ferry clinic, by the southeastern gate. The bottom floor contains the medical lab and storage, along with a plethora of chems. There is, however, a pressure plate at the bottom of the stairs that releases a grenade bouquet.
 * The aforementioned St. Peter's church, which makes for a useful landmark and scavenging spot, which contains the Free States barracks and another two workbenches for weapons and armor. Just north of it is a small garden with a cooking station.
 * A dead vault dweller is sitting on an upstairs sofa.

Notable loot

 * All five Lydia's journal pages - For locations, see page.
 * A safe haven - Holotape, found on a desk in the same house as Lydia's journal page 20.
 * Restoring order - Holotape, next to the north gate terminal.
 * Ella's log: Harpers Ferry - On a table inside the church.
 * Harpers Ferry postcard - Obtained during the quest A Mark in the Past - Harpers Ferry.
 * Sharon's angry letter - On a desk in the church.
 * Leonard's journal entry - Note, found upstairs in the building next to the clinic, besides several flasks and test tube racks.
 * Jesus Sunday's holotape - Part 1 - On a table on the roof of house #402.
 * Jesus Sunday's holotape - Part 2 - Holotape, found next to the south gate terminal by the clinic.
 * Fortifications key - On a table in the middle of the church. Opens various doors.
 * Letter of resignation - On the second-floor desk of the clinic.
 * Being followed - Note, in a cooler on the river northeast of Harpers Ferry.
 * C.H. Monthly, October - Found on the ground floor of a house (#106).
 * Potential weapon mod plan - To the right of the weapons workbench inside the church, on a makeshift metal table.
 * Three potential armor plans:
 * Inside an open display case, on the first floor, facing the northwestern wall, at house #394.
 * Inside an open square display case, on the third floor, next to a bathroom, at house #394.
 * To the left of the armor workbench inside the church, on a metal barrel. (Armor mod plan)
 * Two potential recipes:
 * Inside an open display case, facing the northwestern wall, on the third floor, at house #394.
 * On a set of lockers shelf, on the third floor, at house #106.
 * A significant number of chems can be found in the basement of the clinic.

Appearances
Harpers Ferry appears only in Fallout 76.

Behind the scenes

 * Harpers Ferry is based on the real-world Harpers Ferry, situated where the Shenandoah River flows into the Potomac River. Although Harpers Ferry is located on the border with Virginia and Maryland, far from the game's other major locations, it was moved over to fit into the map as the game developers wished to include it in the game.
 * Harpers Ferry is extremely close to the Capital Wasteland; the real-life distance between Harpers Ferry and Washington, D.C. is roughly 20 miles shorter than the distance between the Capitol and the Enclave headquarters at Raven Rock Mountain Complex.