Black-Owned, White-Only: New Book Profiles the Hill Top House Founders

By Crystal Good | Black By God

A new book is setting the record straight on one of Harpers Ferry’s most fascinating — and misunderstood — stories of Black achievement. Among the Mountains: The Lovetts and Their Hill Top House, by West Virginia author Lynn Pechuekonis, offers the most in-depth account yet of Thomas and Lavinia Lovett, the African American couple who founded the famous Hill Top House Hotel, perched high above Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, overlooking the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers.

Published by the Harpers Ferry Park Association, the book chronicles the Lovetts’ journey through war, segregation, and entrepreneurship — and reveals the complexities of building a business as Black owners in a divided America.

Originally from Winchester, Virginia, the Lovetts were a free Black family forced to flee north during the Civil War. They returned to the Shenandoah Valley as Rev. Nathan Brackett established schools for newly freed people. Through Brackett’s influence, the family relocated to Harpers Ferry, where their children attended Storer College — one of the first institutions to educate formerly enslaved students.

Thomas Lovett thrived there as a teacher, then honed his hospitality instincts in Providence, Rhode Island, before returning with a grand vision. Standing atop Magazine Hill — the scenic ridge that commands a view of the town below — he declared:

“Here, where the martyrdom of John Brown took place, is where I will build my hotel.”

With Lavinia Lovett as partner and investors (including some former Confederates), the Hill Top House opened to a white clientele from the Baltimore–Washington region. Despite two major fires, staggering debt, and the era’s prejudice, the Lovetts operated the resort for 35 years, earning a reputation for generous hospitality, a first-rate restaurant, and breathtaking views.

Pechuekonis and her research team spent over two years unearthing letters, ledgers, and family records to tell the Lovetts’ full story and correct decades of mythmaking. The book debunks the long-held claim that Hill Top House operated as a haven for Black travelers. In reality, while the Lovetts were Black entrepreneurs, the hotel itself was a whites-only resort during their ownership — an uncomfortable truth that sharpens, rather than diminishes, the significance of their achievement.

Nuance matters — I previously got that part wrong in my opinion piece that has been updated, as the stakes of telling Black history accurately are higher than ever. Where to buy: Among the Mountains: The Lovetts and Their Hill Top House is available through the Harpers Ferry Park Association bookstore and major online booksellers.