Illegal developing at Harpers Ferry

[william42]

Those of you who receive the Civil War News will be aware of this, but for those who don't there is a front page article with photo of an illegal dig by developers on property belonging to Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. They dug quickly over a weekend and laid sewer and water lines with bulldozers and Ditch Witches. There are three developers involved who are forming a partnership to develope four properties in and around the park. Two parallel trenches were dug 1900 feet through the park's 38 acre Perry Orchard tract on historic School House Ridge. Here's the kicker: "park rangers attempted to stop them but to no avail." How that could occur I have no clue, but the developers picked a weekend to do the job so a judge could not be summoned, and the park personnel were busy hosting thousands of visitors for the centennial of the Niagara Movement, an early civil rights effort launched at Harpers Ferry in 1906.

It's a very long article and I can't type it all in here, and I would probably be admonished for copyright infringement, but it ends with the email address for Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne: exsec@ios.doi.gov or call 202-208-6950 if you want to express your concern.


Terry

[JerseyBart]

That's an absolute disgrace!!! I hope the developers get their licenses or whatever credentials they have suspended. Leave our historical sites alone.

Bart

[samgrant]

Hang 'em! ................

[ole]

After they've had a fair trial. Then hang'em.

[JerseyBart]

Forget the fair trial. Make it a bias trial, tell them it's going to be a bias trial before it, and then hang them anyway with a frayed rope.

Bart

[gary]

Sounds like they needed a law enforcement ranger to boot them off Federal Property. They should be charged with vandalism and trespass and fined very heavily to discourage future misconduct.

Too bad we can't sentence them to reenacting. One may be bucked and gagged, another hung by the thumbs, another made to ride the horse. There's endless possibilities but I suppose cruel and unusual would come into play.

[brigance]

Harper's Ferry was a mess during the Niagra Movement centenial. I was there and there was a lot of commotion afterwards about the people doing that developing. The Klan made an appearance as well. The NPS had a whole lot to deal with during the whole weekend.

[rock city guard]

heres a article I found with pictures.

http://www.nationaltrust.org/Magazin...006/091106.htm

I say cut there hands off...

[william42]

Study: Housing Threatens Civil War Sites


By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: March 13, 2007
Filed at 10:06 p.m. ET


http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/A...=1&oref=slogin


Terry

[cw1865]

Believe it or not, I actually favor developing Harper's Ferry (legally of course) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:H...omac_River.jpg

Make it live again! In the picture I am linking to, there's nobody living in those homes, its a tourist destination, nothing else.