1864 Atlas of Lancaster County Right of Way: Teachers and students can be the key to preserving our past An illustrated guided tour of Southern Lancaster County Underground Railroad Sites Arranged and conducted by Randolph Harris June 23, 2004 9 AM until 1 PM. This tour has been designed to illustrate the urgent need to inform citizens that preserving special places in our history starts with each of us. We will attempt to understand how evidence of Underground Railroad activity, when engaged as a teaching platform, can better insure the protection of those places of historic significance in Lancaster County, PA.

Frontispiece, Dr. R.C. Smedley's 1883 book of regional accounts The Underground Railroad And its intriguing origins I have chosen to describe this tour and teaching effort as ROW because this name connects with the path of a real railroad, and it also aptly describes the mission and intent of the farmers and their families who were the key players in this historical drama. Their religious beliefs were put into action, in essence, as the right way to live one's life in the face of an inhumane institution. This view, couples with the generally accepted concept that the actual railroad, known as the Philadelphia to Columbia Railroad, in the region of Chester, Lancaster and York Counties, appears to have given birth to the name of this movement. Note that Columbia Borough is often described as the anecdotal birth site of "an underground railroad..." Also, with this name as the secretive path and method of escaping slavery during the period 1830-1860, research indicates that the early actual railroads were used to move freedom seekers and the that former slaves were actually often hidden in underground areas of barns and other buildings here in Lancaster and neigbhoring counties. Our tour will include these kinds of sites... Randolph Harris, June 15, 2004 The editor/photographer of this poster is a resident of Mount Joy, Pennsylvania, and a native of Duquesne, Pennsylvania. The former Executive Director of Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County, Harris is a consultant specializing in historic preservation, community development and heritage tourism initiatives. Please contact with questions and comments at: 717-808-2941, or harris233@earthlink.net.

A tour perspective... Wanted! Educators and activists In Lancaster County, many residents and visitors believe that this greater community -- its public and private sectors alike -- has fully engaged every law and program established to protect and conserve local history. Afterall, tourism with a special focus on history and heritage is widely acknowledged to be a mainstay of the local economy, correct? Not so. There are only a few municipalities in Lancaster County that have taken the initiative to adopt local ordinances as authorized by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that can effectively halt or avoid unnecessary demolition or in appropriate alteration of historic properties. Also, there are few, if any, readily available funding programs to make possible the preservation of historic sites, such as low interest loans, grants, tax credits, etc. There is absolutely no kind of public funding (local, state or federal) for significant incentives for private homeowners to buy, repair or maintain properties with historic significance. Add to these shortcomings America's constant growth into suburban and rural areas at the expense of needed investment in older communities that contain the majority of historic buildings. It seems that the fight to preserve our irreplaceable heritage is ever-present, no matter where we call home. A greater preservation ethic must be spurred to grow beyond its present level and effectiveness. A great deal of work needs to be done. One way this can be most readily accomplished is through area schools. As teachers, you can play a major role to insure a better future for our past. Knowledge of architecture is only secondary to a successful preservation effort. More important is thorough research and documentation about the notable people, places and events associated with a site or building. We must to be able to tell a good story of human drama and intrigue. The story must engage everyone who takes the time to listen, or who can be "snagged" by a good pitch or interest hook. Supporting a compelling story, of course, is the critical identification, preservation and sharing of primary and secondary source material. Armed with this information, a community historian should become as well versed as possible in local, state and federal regulations and programs than may be enlisted to preserve the site. Next step? Identify the owner of the site and determine the degree of heritage awareness. If the owner is sympathetic, the initiative will be less difficult. Finding the time and money to make a difference becomes the tough part, even with a cooperative owner. A goal of preservation, however, is often the after-thought of a typical owner. Unfortunately, a preservation or re-use plan is more likely to be perceived as a threat to intentions to sell, demolish or continue to neglect the property or site. This tour will provide examples of all of these factors, both positive and negative, influencing the preferred path of educational advancement through a sustainable, authentic approach to historic preservation. Telling Stories exhibition Solanco panels Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County Lancaster County Historical Society National Register of Historic Places Underground Railroad Network To Freedom-NPS

Thomas Whitson House partially demolished, January 2004 The Sites on Tour

What evidence can you gather? What observation can you make?

William L. Rakestraw, Quaker farmer, Abolitionist leader from Bart Township (1813-1869) 1) The Ellmaker House, circa 1820-40, one time residence of Abolitionist and Thaddeus Stevens associate Nathanial Ellmaker. Parking lot – Village at Gap shopping center, corner of PA Route 30 and PA Route 41. 2) Christiana Machine Shop and commemorative marker for the 1851 Resistance at Christiana, Borough of Christiana. 3) Christiana Riot Marker (from PA Historical and Museum Commission-PHMC), Lower Valley Road, Sadsbury Township. Text of Christiana marker ExplorePAHistory.org lesson plan on William Parker ExplorePAhistory.org UGRR historic markers

4) Low Grade Line, cross under historic RR line between Lower Valley Road and Upper Valley Road, Sadsbury. Can the Low Grade Line as a rail trail help to interpret the Underground Railroad in Lancaster County? Review this introduction and e-mail the writer for a full copy of this 8 page concept paper.

Sign at original Sadsbury School No.2 5) Sadsbury Free Public School No. 3, AKA Smyrna Chapel, corner of White Oak and Smyrna Roads and Christiana Pike (PA Route 372). Full text of THE FREEDMAN"S STORY from THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY Full text of Ellwood Griest's JOHN AND MARY; OR, THE FUGITIVES SLAVES, A TALE OF SOUTH-EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA

6) Thomas Whitson House, White Oak Road, Bart Township, or what is left of it... 7) Village of Nickel Mines – White Oak and Mine Road, Bart Township. 8) Russell Hall at Village of Georgetown, Bart Township, Lancaster Avenue (PA Route 896) south of town center. 9) William L. Rakestraw Farm, PA Route 896, just south of PA Route 372, first farm on the west side of the road.

Bart Meeting 10) Bart Meeting, Quaker Church Road, just north of intersection with PA Route 373. Here, see the graves of many of the persons whose properties will have been on this tour.