Mifflin House, the Underground Railroad and Civil War site, preserved for $5.5 million

Six years after the Mifflin House, a stop on the Underground Railroad and the site of a Civil War skirmish, faced potential demolition for a warehouse, the historic property near the Susquehanna River in eastern York County has been saved.

The Conservation Fund purchased the Mifflin House property last week for $5.5 million. The amount includes acquisition costs.

The environmental nonprofit will serve as a temporary owner until its partners, including the Susquehanna National Heritage Area and Preservation Pennsylvania, can secure the funding pledged for the nearly 88-acre property, which sits just off Route 30 in Hellam Township, according to a news release.

Within the next year, the property is expected to be transferred to the national heritage area for permanent protection and will become the Susquehanna Discovery Center, a new visitor center that provides public access and offers interpretation and education about the history of the area. The farmhouse will be restored for tourists to learn about how the Mifflin family helped to hide enslaved African Americans, who were seeking freedom, and ferry them across the river on their journey to Philadelphia.

"To see an at-risk property marked saved is a very good day," said Mindy Crawford, executive director of Preservation Pennsylvania.

More:How Pennsylvania became a safe haven for Harriet Tubman after she escaped slavery in Maryland

Mifflin House:York County OKs plan for $1.75M to save Underground Railroad property

Effort to save the Mifflin House started years ago

Saving a site like the Mifflin House is not quick, Crawford said. On average, it takes about seven years.

When the efforts to save it started years ago, the house sat in what was a growing business park off Cool Creek Road in Hellam Township.

The owners, Robert and Agnes Blessing and Wayne and Sue Blessing, were working with Kinsley Properties to develop the land.

Donald and Shelby Blessing, who lived in the house at the time and are related to the owners, worried that the structure was going to be torn down for development.

"They're trying to sell it, and I'm trying to save it," Donald Blessing said in October 2016. "I accept it's getting sold, but I think the house should stand."

Local residents and preservationists raised concerns, too, about the future of the building.

Preservation Pennsylvania added that Mifflin House to its at-risk list of endangered historic properties in 2017. That same year, a state agency confirmed the building's historical significance, saying it would be eligible to be included on the National Register of Historic Places.

"This was a really important site, and we just didn't want to lose it," Crawford said.

In 2019, preservationists reached an agreement with Kinsley Properties, giving organizations two years to raise funds to preserve the farmhouse, the barn and acreage around it.

That deadline passed, and even though the moratorium on development wasn't extended, the parties continued to work on the negotiations and plans for the property, said Mark Platts, president of the Susquehanna National Heritage Area.

The Conservation Fund saw that the Mifflin House included historical and cultural values "we feel is so important to protect," said Kyle Shenk, northeast regional director with the organization.

Kinsley Properties and the Blessings offered the property at a reduced price for the acquisition and preservation, according to The Conservation Fund.

"The Kinsley family has always been guided by the extensive land preservation completed through the life of their late founder, Robert A. Kinsley," Tim Kinsley said in the news release. "We are grateful to all of the involved preservation groups who identified the historical significance of the land and to The Conservation Fund for providing the expertise and resources for its preservation."

Kinsley also coordinated the work to re-subdivide the property to set it up for the heritage area's plan instead of the industrial park, Platts said.

Kinsley and the Blessing family were not available for comment.

Funding committed to saving the Mifflin House

Several public and private entities already have committed funding to saving the property, the news release states.

They include:

• The Powder Mill Foundation

• J. William Wareheim Foundation

• Arthur J. & Lee R. Glatfelter Foundation

• Pennsylvania Redevelopment Capital Assistance Program through the York County Economic Alliance

• The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

• The York County Open Space and Land Preservation Program

Leaders in York County have expressed their enthusiasm for the project.

"Saving the historic Mifflin Farmstead as a place to welcome visitors and learn about York County's rich, nationally important heritage exemplifies the civic engagement of our founders, Louis J. Appell, Jr. and his wife, Josephine D. Appell," said Michael H. Hady III, president and CEO of the Powder Mill Foundation, said in the release. "This project will help our community grow and prosper, and we're proud to be part of it."

'...it just brought history alive for me'

Kathleen Anderson of Lancaster is a descendant of Robert Loney, a former enslaved man from Virginia who worked with Jonathan and Suzanna Mifflin on the Underground Railroad. He helped the freedom seekers cross the wide river.

Anderson learned about her history through her late cousin, Derek Parker, who had done historical research and portrayed Robert Loney in the past. She has visited the Mifflin House in recent years and believes it is wonderful that the building is going to be preserved.

"... it just brought history alive for me," Anderson said of the place.

History shows that African Americans were involved in the Underground Railroad, too. Robert Loney could have been arrested and put in jail for helping to take the freedom seekers across the river.

She is helping others to learn about the history, and she hopes that more information will be shared in the future.

Anderson said she's looking forward to being able to visit the Mifflin House in the future.

"Maybe I'll be the one that's taking my daughter and my granddaughter and my great granddaughter, but I'm looking forward to being able to go and see what has been made from the Mifflin House that I walked through," she said.

What's next for the property?

The Mifflin House and the surrounding property will not be open to the public for now, Platts said.

But plans are underway to develop the property into the regional visitor destination. The nonprofit will need to raise about $10 million for that effort.

The barn is expected to become the Susquehanna Discover Center, a bigger and broader National Park-style visitors center where visitors will learn about the big, important stories of the York and Lancaster region.

The Mifflin House will be carefully restored and become an Underground Railroad learning center. The nonprofit plans to pursue getting it listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The landscape will be used to interpret the Civil War battle as well as the Underground Railroad, Platts said.

He expects that the property will open in phases.

Platts said saving the Mifflin House was a community project that both York and Lancaster counties can be proud of because "this is a site that's important to both of our counties and our region. And I think it will ultimately be a really important economic asset once it is up and running and attracting visitors."

How the community can help

Friday is Give Local York, and the Susquehanna National Heritage Area is one of the organizations participating in the fundraising event.

Patrons can give money toward the organization and note that they want to support the Mifflin project. The house is listed on the nonprofit's page. Visit givelocalyork.org.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: $5.5 million purchase saves Mifflin House, an Underground Railroad site