Wright's Ferry Mansion Columbia PA

03/08/2026

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03/03/2026

It's the 300th Anniversary of the founding of Columbia, PA!

On February 19th, 2026, Elizabeth Dillon, Wright’s Ferry Mansion’s assistant curator, gave a talk on the early Quaker settlers of Columbia. At Wright’s Ferry Mansion, we feel it is so important to share the history of this interesting town on the banks of the Susquehanna River. Did you know that in the 1970s, an archeobotanical study was conducted on the Wright’s Ferry Mansion property? The study found seeds and pollen of cultivated Eastern 8-Row corn, Fox grapes, gooseberries and fleshy fruits like Pawpaw that dated back to 1450-1350 ACE. That means that when the Quakers arrived in 1726, native people living here already knew of the rich soil and abundant animal life of this region.
As Wright's Ferry Mansion is closed to the public for the winter months, our guides are able to give talks on the history of the house and the Wright family. We were so honored that the Committee for Columbia's 300th Anniversary asked Ms. Dillon to share her knowledge! Throughout the year, there will be other informative talks in various venues around Columbia, including Columbia Crossing, the Columbia Market House, and the National Watch and Clock Museum. Each talk will focus on a different aspect of the town’s 300th anniversary.

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03/03/2026

Early this January, the staff of Wright Ferry Mansion had the pleasure of visiting the Barns Foundation where we enjoyed a tour Henri Rousseau: A Painter's Secrets–a special exhibition featuring many of Henri Rousseau’s most famous paintings, including the Sleeping Gypsy, The Snake Charmer, and Carnival Evening. The creation of the beautiful 336 page catalog for this exhibit was largely funded by a grant from the Richard C. von Hess Foundation, our sister organization.

Visiting other museums gives us a chance to expand our knowledge of history and art, as well as to compare the educational strategies of other museums to our own. We all thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the Barns Foundation, and we were very impressed by the remarkable collection of art housed within.

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12/06/2025

11/12/2025

With our 2025 tour season having come to a close, a lot of people wonder what it is that we do here at WFM during our off season? Our off season is a time for maintenance and research. Our docents (Liz Dillon and Tess Wilson) remain hard at work through the winter, expanding their knowledge of the collection and history of the property, and planning fun activities that can be incorporated into our tours, and ensuring that our collections records remain up to date.

Anyone who has taken a tour here may have noticed our large collection of highly polished 18th century brass objects. Maintaining these objects takes time. Liz and Tess also spend much of the off season carefully polishing every brass object, and cleaning every corner of the house.

We will open again for tours Friday, May 1st, 2026!

10/29/2025

Today and Friday are the last days of the 2025 tour season.

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10/27/2025

It is a beautiful day. Only 3 more tour days: Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. WFM will close for the winter and reopen in May. The Museum Collection will be online in January via wrightsferrymasion.org

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10/24/2025

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10/24/2025

Next Friday is the last day of our 2025 tour season. We reopen in May 2026. To keep up on WFM check out wrightsferrymansion.org

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10/22/2025