Explore sites and stories of the origins of the Underground Railroad in York and Lancaster Counties, from 1780 until the end of the 1860s, including the Civil War years and the Reconstruction Era. Beginning with several historic sites in Wrightsville and Columbia, straddling the Susquehanna River, the excursion will feature the Mifflin Farm, a well-known safe house of the Underground Railroad overlooking the river, established during the first half of the 19th century. The tour ends in the City of Lancaster, stopping at the Thaddeus Stevens & Lydia Hamilton Smith Center for History and Democracy, now under construction. There, you will have a sneak peek inside this new museum and education center before its grand opening at the end of 2025. Touring will be on the motor coach or in visitors’ vehicles, with narration about Underground Railroad history along the route. We will deboard the coach or autos for one or two stops in Columbia and several stops in Lancaster.

Tour Conductor: Historian Randolph Harris will share stories from his 25 years of research into Underground Railroad heritage and efforts to preserve significant sites our region where this important history took place. Randy is a former journalist and community development consultant from the Pittsburgh, PA area. He is now on the staff of LancasterHistory and is part of a team working on the exhibits and artifacts that will be on display at the new Stevens & Smith Center. Randy has been responsible for securing the designations for more than 20 sites across Pennsylvania as part of the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, a program of the National Park Service. Thirteen of these sites are located in York and Lancaster counties. He is a member of the community group that cares for the Shreiner-Concord Cemetery in the City of Lancaster, one of the tour stops and the burial place of
Congressman Thaddeus Stevens. Randy and his family live near this historic site in Lancaster City.