Stevens & Smith Historical Site

Introduction to the Underground Railroad in Lancaster County. Image courtesy of Archimuse. Proposed downtown Lancaster renovation. Image courtesy of Community Heritage Partners; Brown, Keener & Bressi

(click to enlarge)

The Possibilities: A Steady Stream Of Visitors

The new educational and interpretive complex will also generate interest outside the local region. Because of its emphasis on civil rights, equality and freedom, it is likely to draw visitors from around the country – and even the world. More than eight million people visit Lancaster County each year, and a recent survey by the Pennsylvania Dutch Convention & Visitors Bureau revealed that an impressive 52 percent of potential heritage visitors to Lancaster County would be “very likely” to visit a facility that explores civil rights and the U.S. Constitution. An independent estimate indicates that the historic precinct would attract between 60,000 and 75,000 visitors each year. The economic benefits from such a steady stream of visitors would touch both city businesses and residents, and also help enhance Lancaster’s reputation as an important historic location.

The Thaddeus Stevens & Smith Historic Project is of the utmost importance for Lancaster. Stevens, one of Lancaster's most noteworthy citizens, has long been neglected, and it is great that this prescient advocate of racial equality is finally being recognized, to say nothing of his great Afro-American friend, Mrs. Lydia Hamilton Smith, whom he always treated with the greatest respect.

- Dr. Hans L. Trefousse, distinguished professor of history at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and author of Thaddeus Stevens: Nineteenth-Century Egalitarian

Closer to Equality — Capital Campaign

Our plan is to create a $20 million educational and interpretive complex, using the restored 19th century properties of Thaddeus Stevens and Lydia Hamilton Smith located in Historic Downtown Lancaster, PA – featuring an original cistern believed by historians and archaeologists to have been used by Stevens and Smith as a hiding place for escaping slaves along the Underground Railroad. This will honor the legacy of these extraordinary Americans and inspire people today to carry on the work these patriots began. Please join us by giving a gift.

A Place in History: The Story of Thaddeus Stevens and Lydia Hamilton Smith

Watch video now (33 minutes)

Stevens & Smith Historic Site

Office:
135 East King Street
Lancaster, PA 17602

phone: 717-735-3765
fax: 717-735-3766
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