1833 hilltop church that survived the Civil War as a Harpers Ferry hospital
110 Church Street, Harpers Ferry, WV 25425
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free to visit the exterior and grounds; the church remains an active parish. Ghost tours charge a fee.
Access
Limited Access
Hilltop church reached by steep stone steps from Lower Town
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1833 · Irish immigrant heritage · Civil War field hospital · Harpers Ferry National Historical Park
The construction of the C&O Canal and the B&O Railroad in the early 1830s drew a large community of Irish Catholic laborers to Harpers Ferry. They built St. Peter's between roughly 1830 and 1833, donating their labor on days off, on a ledge of rock above the town. The church anchored the Irish parish and became a fixture of the upper town near Jefferson Rock.
Father Michael Costello, born in Ireland in 1833, became pastor of St. Peter's in 1857 and served through the Civil War. As the town changed hands repeatedly and both armies shelled Harpers Ferry, Costello is recorded as flying the British Union Jack over the church to mark it as neutral ground; St. Peter's was the only church in town not severely damaged or destroyed. The undamaged church and its school building were used as makeshift hospitals at various points during the war, and Costello continued to hold services and administer the sacraments. He served until about 1867.
The building was remodeled to its present Gothic Revival appearance in 1896. St. Peter's remains an active parish, with Mass offered on Sundays, and sits within the boundary of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. Its history is documented by the National Park Service, the University of Illinois Harpers Ferry archaeology project, and the church's own parish histories.
Sources
Because St. Peter's served as a wartime hospital, much of its folklore centers on the soldiers treated and the priest who ministered to them. Tour guides and West Virginia hauntings collections describe the figure of Father Costello in clerical dress moving near the church and the sound of footsteps on the stone floor when the building is empty.
The most repeated single account is of a mortally wounded soldier carried to the church during the war who, told he had reached a place of refuge, is said to have spoken the words 'Thank God, I am saved' before dying. Visitors on evening tours report hearing the phrase, or a faint voice, near the front steps. These accounts are anecdotal and passed down through commercial ghost tours and folklore listings rather than documented investigation. The parish itself does not promote the stories; the church remains a place of worship, and we present the legends as the folklore layer attached to a building with a real and somber wartime history.
St. Peter's sits on a ledge above Lower Town, reached by steep stone steps near Jefferson Rock and the Appalachian Trail. It remains an active Catholic parish; visitors can view the exterior, the grounds, and the overlook during park hours, and attend Sunday Mass.
St. Peter's is a regular stop on Harpers Ferry's commercial ghost-history walks, which tell the story of the church's Civil War hospital use and the accounts attached to Father Costello.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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