Editing Harpers Ferry, West Virginia (section)

===21st century===
On July 23, 2015, a fire broke out in downtown Harpers Ferry, destroying eight or nine businesses and two apartments in two historic buildings. The buildings are being rebuilt.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Hedgpeth |first1=Dana|last2=Woodrow Cox|first2=John|title=Fire destroys businesses in historic area of Harpers Ferry |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2015/07/23/massive-fire-in-historic-area-of-harpers-ferry/|access-date=July 25, 2015 |newspaper=The Washington Post|date=July 23, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150725120236/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2015/07/23/massive-fire-in-historic-area-of-harpers-ferry/ |archive-date=July 25, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|editor=Toni Milbourne|title=Harpers Ferry blaze destroys buildings, businesses, homes |url=http://www.shepherdstownchronicle.com/page/content.detail/id/513362/Harpers-Ferry-blaze-destroys-buildings--businesses--homes.html?nav=5089#sthash.eQLhE0o5.dpuf|access-date=August 7, 2015 |work=Shepherdstown Chronicle|date=July 31, 2015|url-status=live |archive-date=August 9, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150809164436/http://www.shepherdstownchronicle.com/page/content.detail/id/513362/Harpers-Ferry-blaze-destroys-buildings--businesses--homes.html?nav=5089#sthash.eQLhE0o5.dpuf}}</ref>

In the early morning of December 21, 2019, multiple cars of a train owned by CSX derailed from the railroad bridge crossing the Potomac River. The derailment damaged a portion of the Goodloe E. Byron Memorial Pedestrian Walkway, which is attached to the railroad bridge and connects the Appalachian Trail between West Virginia and Maryland. Although the accident did not result in any injuries or fatalities, it effectively inhibited all pedestrian access across the Potomac.<ref>{{cite news|title=Information about train derailment and footbridge at Harpers Ferry|url=https://www.nps.gov/hafe/planyourvisit/information-about-train-derailment-at-harpers-ferry-on-december-21-2019.htm|access-date=June 29, 2020|work=NPS.gov|date=May 20, 2020|archive-date=May 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200518201308/https://www.nps.gov/hafe/planyourvisit/information-about-train-derailment-at-harpers-ferry-on-december-21-2019.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> The bridge reopened in early July 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://wvmetronews.com/2020/07/03/footbridge-at-harpers-ferry-reopens-after-damage-caused-in-train-derailment/ |title=WV Metro News: "Footbridge at Harpers Feery Reopens" 3 July 2020 |date=July 4, 2020 |access-date=July 6, 2020 |archive-date=July 6, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200706184033/https://wvmetronews.com/2020/07/03/footbridge-at-harpers-ferry-reopens-after-damage-caused-in-train-derailment/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Hill Top House project====
{{main|Hill Top House Hotel}}
The Hill Top House Hotel, which had opened in 1888 to accommodate African Americans as the sole hotel in Harpers Ferry that would accept them as guests, burned in 1911. It  was then rebuilt on a larger scale, but that building also burned in 1919. It was rebuilt a second time on a slightly smaller scale but closed in 2008. As of 2021, developers plan to demolish it and build a new 120-room hotel on the site.<ref>{{cite magazine
|url=https://wvexplorer.com/2021/04/14/hill-top-house-harpers-ferry-construction-2021/
|title=Hill Top House project in Harpers Ferry moving ahead
|first=Christine
|last=Snyder
|date=April 14, 2021
|magazine=West Virginia Explorer
|access-date=February 22, 2022
|archive-date=February 22, 2022
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220222145636/https://wvexplorer.com/2021/04/14/hill-top-house-harpers-ferry-construction-2021/
|url-status=live
}}</ref> Controversies about the impact such a proposed venue would have on the town have delayed its development.