Reverend George B. Hitchcock House | |
Nearest city | 63788 567th Lane in Cass County, near Lewis, Iowa |
---|---|
Coordinates | 41°18′11.7″N95°6′12.5″W / 41.303250°N 95.103472°W |
Built | 1855 |
Architect | George B. Hitchcock |
Architectural style | Federal |
NRHP reference No. | 77000500 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | November 09, 1977 [1] |
Designated NHL | February 17, 2006 [2] |
The Reverend George B. Hitchcock House is a historic house museum in Cass County, Iowa, near the city of Lewis. Built in 1856 by the Congregationalist minister George B. Hitchcock, it has features indicative of its use as a "station" on the Underground Railway, corroborated by documentary evidence of Hitchcock's involvement in the shelter and transport of escaped slaves. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2006. [2] [3] It now houses a museum. [4]
The Hitchcock House is located west of the city limits of Lewis, on a hill overlooking the western bank of the East Nishnabotna River. It is a two-story structure, built out of locally sourced random ashlar sandstone, and resting on a rubblestone foundation. Its walls are 21 inches (53 cm) thick, and its interior framing is heavy hand-hewn timbers. Stylistically it is a vernacular interpretation of Federal period architecture. Unusual features of its interior include an apparently purpose-built basement chamber, whose access was probably concealed by a false cabinet. The other basement room is fitted with a cooking fireplace, and was accessible via an exterior entrance and by stairs from above. It is surmised that these rooms were used for the shelter and support of fugitive slaves. [3]
The minister George B. Hitchcock (1812–1872) built the house around 1855 and lived in it from 1856 to 1865. At the time of its construction, it overlooked two major east–west trails, leading to ferry crossings on the river. Hitchcock was involved in the American abolitionism movement known as the Underground Railroad, giving sanctuary to escaped slaves. The property was used as a farm until 1966, when it was sold to the state. It underwent a major restoration in the 1980s, and is now managed by the county as a historic house museum, interpreting the history of the Hitchcock family and the Underground Railroad. [3]
Eleutherian College, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993 and declared a National Historic Landmark in 1997, was founded as Eleutherian Institute in 1848 by a group of local anti-slavery Baptists at Lancaster in Jefferson County. The institute's name comes from the Greek word eleutheros, meaning "freedom and equality." The school admitted students without regard to ethnicity or gender, including freed and fugitive slaves. Its first classes began offering secondary school instruction on November 27, 1848. The school was renamed Eleutherian College in 1854, when it began offering college-level coursework. It is the second college in the United States west of the Allegheny Mountains and the first in Indiana to provide interracial education. The restored three-story stone chapel and classroom building was constructed between 1853 and 1856 and presently serves as a local history museum.
The Boston African American National Historic Site, in the heart of Boston, Massachusetts's Beacon Hill neighborhood, interprets 15 pre-Civil War structures relating to the history of Boston's 19th-century African-American community, connected by the Black Heritage Trail. These include the 1806 African Meeting House, the oldest standing black church in the United States.
Reverend George Beckwith Hitchcock (1812–1872) was an American involved in housing slaves on their way to freedom. His house in Lewis, Iowa, now a National Historic Landmark, was part of the Underground Railroad.
The Coffin House is a National Historic Landmark located in the present-day town of Fountain City in Wayne County, Indiana. The two-story, eight room, brick home was constructed circa 1838–39 in the Federal style. The Coffin home became known as the "Grand Central Station" of the Underground Railroad because of its location where three of the escape routes to the North converged and the number of fleeing slaves who passed through it.
The William H. Seward House Museum is a historic house museum at 33 South Street in Auburn, New York. Built about 1816, the home of William H. Seward (1801–72), who served as a New York state senator, the governor of New York, a U.S. senator, a presidential candidate, and then Secretary of State under presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. The house was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1964, and added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. It is now maintained by nonprofit organization as a museum dedicated to Seward's legacy.
The Austin F. Williams Carriagehouse and House is a historic house at 127 Main Street in Farmington, Connecticut. Built in the mid-19th century, the property was designated a National Historic Landmark for the role it played in the celebrated case of the Amistad Africans, and as a "station" on the Underground Railroad.
The Owen Lovejoy House is a historic house museum on East Peru Street in Princeton, Illinois. Built in 1838, it was for many years home to Owen Lovejoy (1811-1864), a prominent abolitionist and congressman. Lovejoy, the brother of martyred abolitionist, Elijah Lovejoy, was an open operator of shelter and support on the Underground Railroad, and his house contains a concealed compartment in which escaped slaves could be hidden. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1997. It is open seasonally or by appointment for tours.
The John Johnson House is a National Historic Landmark in the Germantown section of Philadelphia, significant for its role in the antislavery movement and the Underground Railroad. It is located at 6306 Germantown Avenue and is a contributing property of the Colonial Germantown Historic District, which is also a National Historic Landmark. It is operated today as a museum open to the public.
The F. Julius LeMoyne House is a historic house museum at 49 East Maiden Street in Washington, Pennsylvania. Built in 1812, it was the home of Dr. Francis Julius LeMoyne (1798–1897), an antislavery activist who used it as a stop on the Underground Railroad. LeMoyne also assisted in the education of freed slaves after the American Civil War, founding the historically black LeMoyne–Owen College in Memphis, Tennessee. His house, now operated as a museum by the local historical society, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1997. It is designated as a historic public landmark by the Washington County History & Landmarks Foundation.
Rokeby Museum is a historic farm property and museum at 4334 United States Route 7 in Ferrisburgh, Vermont. The 90-acre (36 ha) property includes a 1780s farmstead, and eight agricultural outbuildings with permanent exhibits. Hiking trails cover more than 50 acres (20 ha) of the grounds. Rokeby is open from mid-May to mid-October each year. The property was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1997 for its association with Rowland T. Robinson, a Quaker and ardent abolitionist who openly sheltered escaped slaves at Rokeby as part of the Underground Railroad. Robinson's extensive correspondence is an essential archive giving insight into the practices of abolitionists and the operations of the railroad.
Wilson Bruce Evans House is a historic house at 33 East Vine Street in Oberlin, Ohio. Completed in 1856, it served a major stop on the Underground Railroad, with its builders, Wilson Bruce Evans and Henry Evans, participating the 1858 Oberlin-Wellington Rescue, a celebrated rescue of a slave. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1997.
The John Hossack House is a historic house in Ottawa, Illinois, United States. It was built in 1854–55 and was a "station" on the Underground Railroad. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
The Nathan and Mary (Polly) Johnson properties are a National Historic Landmark at 17–19 and 21 Seventh Street in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Originally the building consisted of two structures, one dating to the 1820s and an 1857 house joined with the older one shortly after construction. They have since been restored and now house the New Bedford Historical Society. The two properties are significant for their association with leading members of the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts, and as the only surviving residence in New Bedford of Frederick Douglass. Nathan and Polly Johnson were free African-Americans who are known to have sheltered escaped slaves using the Underground Railroad from 1822 on. Both were also successful in local business; Nathan as a caterer and Polly as a confectioner.
The John P. Parker House is a historic house museum at 300 North Front Street in Ripley, Ohio. It was home to former slave and inventor John P. Parker (1827–1900) from 1853 to his death in 1900. Parker was an abolitionist and a well-documented conductor on the Underground Railroad, helping hundreds of escaped slaves. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, and it was further designated a National Historic Landmark in 1997. It is now owned and managed by a local nonprofit organization as a museum about Parker's life and the abolitionist movement.
The John Rankin House is a historic house museum at 6152 Rankin Hill Road in Ripley, Ohio. Built in 1828, it was home to Presbyterian abolitionist John Rankin, and was one of the original stops on the Underground Railroad. Harriet Beecher Stowe's visit to Rankin provided some of the story that became Uncle Tom's Cabin. The house was acquired by the State of Ohio in 1938 and is now operated by the Ohio History Connection and opened for tours. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1997.
The Madison Historic District is a historic district located in Madison, Indiana. In 2006, it was named a National Historic Landmark due to its unique Midwestern beauty and architecture scheme. Among the prominent buildings in the district are the Lanier Mansion, one of two buildings separately considered a National Historic Landmark in the district, and the Schofield House, the birthplace of the Grand Lodge of Indiana. In total, it comprises 133 blocks of Madison, Indiana, overlooking the Ohio River in Jefferson County, Indiana.
The Cass County Courthouse in Atlantic, Iowa, United States, was built in 1934 as the first courthouse in the state built with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA). It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003 as a part of the PWA-Era County Courthouses of Iowa Multiple Properties Submission. The courthouse is the third structure to house court functions and county administration.
The Nishnabotna Ferry House is an historic building located in Lewis, Iowa, United States. The 1½ story, frame, Greek Revival structure was the home of Samuel Harlow Tefft who operated the cable ferry across the East Nishnabotna River from 1857 to 1859. The road that the ferry served was originally an Indian trail that became a primary route used by western bound emigrants, a stage coach and mail route, the Underground Railroad, a later Mormon Trail, and the Mormon handcart companies. The first ferry at this location was operated by Wm. S. Townsend in 1850. A toll bridge was built here 1853 or 1854. It became unstable by 1856. Tefft bought the property in 1857 in order to operate the ferry, and it is assumed that the house had already been built by that time. A new bridge was built by Cass County in 1859. Tefft and his wife remained in the community and are buried in Oakwood Cemetery at Lewis. Several different families lived in the house until the mid-1970s. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
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