Stevens and Smith Historic Site

Stevens and Smith Historic Site Some 150 years ago, Thaddeus Stevens and Lydia Hamilton Smith helped put Lancaster, Pennsylvania on the map. They’re about to do it again.

The Stevens and Smith Center was designed by Community Heritage Partners to reveal the hidden history of Lancaster's urban development, and explain the roles of Stevens, Smith, and Lancaster in the future of civil rights in America and the modern world. What if you could travel back to the Lancaster of antebellum and Civil War days? What if you could hear U.S. Congressman and abolitionist Thaddeus

Stevens deliver his famous speech on the Courthouse steps outlining his plan for Reconstruction of the South? Visit a secret “station” on the Underground Railroad that was very likely conducted by Lydia Hamilton Smith? Experience first hand an era that marked a turning point in America’s history? We believe bringing their story to light will help fuel Lancaster’s renaissance, offer extraordinary resources to the city’s residents, and draw visitors from around the country and the world to learn about the role Stevens played in laying the foundation for the modern Civil Rights Movement, free public education, and freedom and equality for all Americans.

05/02/2026
Open House "sneak peek" last Friday, thanks to LancasterHistory.org for inviting the public to see what's developing wit...
11/28/2024

Open House "sneak peek" last Friday, thanks to LancasterHistory.org for inviting the public to see what's developing within the Stevens and Smith Historic Site. The museum and history center IS happening!

Another find and potential designation in the UGRR link - this one in south Philadelphia. Exciting.
02/07/2021

Another find and potential designation in the UGRR link - this one in south Philadelphia. Exciting.

From the outside, 625 South Delhi Street looks like an average Philadelphia rowhouse. But in the 1850s, it was home to Underground Railroad leaders William and Letitia Still.

Visiting Lecturer, Prof Kelly Britt, of CUNY, speaks to F&M students at the underground site, February 2020. Prof Britt ...
12/28/2020

Visiting Lecturer, Prof Kelly Britt, of CUNY, speaks to F&M students at the underground site, February 2020. Prof Britt was among several archaeologists who worked to discover and research the cisterns in the 2003-2010 period, while the Convention Center was being designed and built around then on top of the Stevens house and law office.

PA Historical Association conference attendees had a tour of Lancaster's mostly unseen but now partially excavated histo...
11/23/2018

PA Historical Association conference attendees had a tour of Lancaster's mostly unseen but now partially excavated history at the Stevens-Smith Historic Site, beneath the Lancaster Convention Ctr., guided by local historian and preservation consultant, Randy Harris, Prof. James Delle, project archaeologist, and Gene Aleci, project architect, preservation and urban development consultant. Although the building exterior restoration work was largely completed in 2009, the interior and underground spaces not visible from the street level remain waiting for further development of the museum and interpretative center, which has been pledged for the future by LancasterHistory.org and the Convention Center Authority.

With each first Saturday this summer, we've had increasing attendance and interest in the story of Stevens and Smith and...
09/13/2016

With each first Saturday this summer, we've had increasing attendance and interest in the story of Stevens and Smith and Lancaster's UGRR history at this National UGRR Network to Freedom-listed site in downtown Lancaster. Join us !

Stevens and Smith Historic Site architect, preservation and urban development consultant, Gene Aleci, explains, as part ...
07/19/2016

Stevens and Smith Historic Site architect, preservation and urban development consultant, Gene Aleci, explains, as part of Lancaster's new African American Heritage Tours, the investigations and transformation of the buildings from their 1990s appearances to the restored appearances today.

09/17/2015

A look at the recent success of naming the San Antonio Missions as a World Heritage Site.

In Virginia, an example of the type of sustained educational preservation and design vision, needed for Lancaster to rea...
12/17/2014

In Virginia, an example of the type of sustained educational preservation and design vision, needed for Lancaster to realize the full potential of the Stevens-Smith Historic Site.

The Menokin Foundation in Warsaw, Virginia, is seeking to preserve the 18th-century home of Francis Lightfoot Lee with structural glass.

See what Spike Lee and others have to say in a new video about the importance of Thaddeus Stevens and Lydia Smith and St...
02/13/2014

See what Spike Lee and others have to say in a new video about the importance of Thaddeus Stevens and Lydia Smith and Stevens' house and law office in Lancaster !

Video about Thaddeus Stevens and his importance to Lancaster, PA

With a little more vision and a lot more commitment, our Stevens and Smith Historic Site and Learning Center could be he...
08/18/2013

With a little more vision and a lot more commitment, our Stevens and Smith Historic Site and Learning Center could be heading in this direction !

The Slave Dwelling Project, a new nonprofit, is working with the National Trust for Historic Preservation and private property owners to preserve slave cabins across the South.

Address

South Queen And East Vine Streets
Lancaster, PA
17602

Telephone

+17173931639

Website

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