The Allstadt House and Ordinary was built about 1790 on land owned by the Lee family near

Harpers Ferry, West Virginia Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia. It is located in the lower Shenandoah Valley. The population was 285 at the 2020 census. Situated at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, where the U.S. stat ...

, including

Phillip Ludwell Lee Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

Richard Bland Lee Richard Bland Lee (January 20, 1761March 12, 1827) was an American planter, jurist, and politician from Fairfax County, Virginia. He was the son of Henry Lee II (1730–1787) of "Leesylvania" and Lucy Grymes (1734–1792), as well as a younger b ...

and

Henry Lee III Henry Lee III (January 29, 1756 – March 25, 1818) was an early American Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot and U.S. politician who served as the ninth Governor of Virginia and as the Virginia United States House of Representatives, Repres ...

. The house at the crossroads was sold to the Jacob Allstadt family of

Berks County, Pennsylvania Berks County ( Pennsylvania German: ''Barricks Kaundi'') is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 428,849. The county seat is Reading. The Schuylkill River, a tributary of the Delaware Ri ...

in 1811. Allstadt operated an ordinary (a tavern) in the house, and a tollgate on the Harpers Ferry-Charles Town Turnpike, while he resided farther down the road in a stone house. The house was enlarged by the Allstadts c. 1830. The house remained in the family until the death of John Thomas Allstadt in 1923, the last survivor of John Brown's Raid. The property was placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1985. It was purchased by the

American Battlefield Trust The American Battlefield Trust is a charitable organization ( 501(c)(3)) whose primary focus is in the preservation of battlefields of the American Civil War, the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 through acquisition of battlefield land. Th ...

, which in 2019 donated it to the

Harpers Ferry National Historical Park Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, originally Harpers Ferry National Monument, is located at the confluence of the Potomac River, Potomac and Shenandoah River, Shenandoah rivers in and around Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. The park includes t ...

John Brown's raid

The house's chief historic significance came in 1859, when

John Brown John Brown most often refers to: *John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859 John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to: Academia * John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...

launched his raid on Harpers Ferry. Brown ordered a detachment of his forces under John Cook to go to

Beall-Air Beall-Air, also known as the Colonel Lewis William Washington House, is a two-story stuccoed brick Plantation house in the Southern United States, house in classical revival style near Halltown, West Virginia. It was the home of Colonel Lewis W ...

and take hostage the owner, Colonel Lewis Washington, and free his slaves. On their return to Harpers Ferry with Washington, the party stopped at Allstadt's and took Allstadt and his son John Thomas, and freed seven slaves. All survived the siege, and the slaves were later re-enslaved. Virginia Governor

Henry A. Wise Henry Alexander Wise (December 3, 1806 – September 12, 1876) was an American attorney, diplomat, politician and slave owner from Virginia. As the 33rd Governor of Virginia, Wise served as a significant figure on the path to the American Civil W ...

and others who were pro-slavery claimed that these "contented" slaves were forced to leave their owners, and returned to them as soon as they could. To avoid whipping or execution, the slaves all said the same thing: they had been forcibly taken by Brown.

Description

The property comprises a small complex of buildings. The main Allstadt House (''c.'' 1790) is a two-story L-shaped structure with a central brick chimney, built of nogging;

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

ed brick between timber uprights. The present structure was expanded from a -story house c. 1830. The original interior comprises only two rooms on the ground floor, each with

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

period mantels. The upstairs portion comprises two rooms and a hall., with one fireplace. Windows are 6-over-6 double-hung sashes. A one-story kitchen was originally a separate building, now attached by a connecting room, probably at the time the second floor was added. A porch was added on the east side c. 1930, since removed. A separate two-story stone building was built c. 1830, with a two-tiered porch on the south side leading to two rooms on each level. The attic is a finished, plastered room, accessible by a ladder. A nearby stone

bank barn A bank barn or banked barn is a style of barn noted for its accessibility, at ground level, on two separate levels. Often built into the side of a hill, or bank, both the upper and the lower floors area could be accessed from ground level, one are ...

also dates to the 1830 period. The barn was used as a stable for the tavern's customers. The barn's overhang is supported by unusual

chamfer A chamfer or is a transitional edge between two faces of an object. Sometimes defined as a form of bevel, it is often created at a 45° angle between two adjoining right-angled faces. Chamfers are frequently used in machining, carpentry, fu ...

ed stone piers. The Allstadt Cemetery is also nearby, serving as the central burial place for the extended family. Graves span the period 1821 to 1880, including the grave of five Russell family infants who may have died of

diphtheria Diphtheria is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Corynebacterium diphtheriae''. Most infections are asymptomatic or have a mild clinical course, but in some outbreaks more than 10% of those diagnosed with the disease may die. Signs and s ...

References

External links

* {{National Register of Historic Places in West Virginia American Civil War sites in West Virginia Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in West Virginia Drinking establishments on the National Register of Historic Places in West Virginia Georgian architecture in West Virginia Houses completed in 1790 Houses completed in 1830 Houses in Jefferson County, West Virginia Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in West Virginia Jefferson County, West Virginia in the American Civil War John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry Lee family residences National Register of Historic Places in Jefferson County, West Virginia Historic American Landscapes Survey in West Virginia 1830 establishments in Virginia John Brown sites