NEWS

Underground Railroad house in danger of demo?

Teresa Boeckel
tboeckel@ydr.com

For about 50 years, Donald Blessing has lived in the Mifflin House, an old stone farmhouse that predates the American Revolution and sits on a hill just outside of Wrightsville.

Donald, left, and Shelby Blessing stand in the third-floor attic with the stairs behind them that lead to the fourth-floor attic of the historic home.

He and his wife, Shelby, have worked to maintain the house with its original wooden floors, deep windowsills, winding staircases and double attic.

It's also a significant place in the history of the Underground Railroad, said Randy Harris, a consulting historian from Lancaster County. In the 19th century, the Mifflin family helped to hide freedom-seekers and ferry them across the Susquehanna River on their way to Philadelphia.

The farmhouse sits in the area of a growing Hellam Township business park off Cool Creek Road, and Donald Blessing's relatives, who own the property, are looking to sell. The couple fear the house will be torn down for a business.

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

Donald's parents, Robert and Agnes Blessing, and his aunt and uncle, Wayne and Sue Blessing, own the property. Agnes Blessing said the family has been working with Tim Kinsley, vice president of development for Kinsley Properties. He wants to buy 25 acres, which would include the house and the barn, she said.

READ: About the Lady Linden, built in 1887.

The farmstead, known as "Breezy End Farms," sits on a nearly 10-acre lot in Wrights Crossing Business Park, which as been under development in Wrightsville and Hellam Township, according to plans on file in the York County Recorder of Deeds office. Kinsley Equities II, an affiliate of Springfield Township-based Kinsley Properties, is listed on the plans.

Agnes Blessing said a business is interested in building a steel warehouse in the park.

She said the family doesn't want to see the old house torn down, either.

"It's a beautiful house," she said, but added "it will be sitting in the middle of an industrial park."

Agnes Blessing said she and her husband are in their 80s, and they want "to get things settled up" at their age.

A woman who answered the door at Wayne Blessing's house referred questions to Kinsley and Robert Blessing.

A spokeswoman for Kinsley has not commented on the plans.

SEE: The 1860 Frey home.

Local historians describe the farmhouse, built in the 1750s, as an important piece of York County history.

"I would hate to see it destroyed," Scott Mingus said.

He has written a book about the Underground Railroad in York County, and it includes the Mifflin House. The Mifflin family — Jonathan and Susanna Mifflin, and their son, Samuel — hid freedom-seekers in the fields, barn and their home, perhaps even under the rafters in the attic, Mingus said.

The Wrightsville/Columbia area was a focal point on the Underground Railroad because of the bridge that spanned the river, said Harris, the Lancaster historian. If the bridge was being watched, the Mifflins engaged the services of Robert Loney, who would ferry the freedom-seekers across the river by boat. Many were looking to get to Philadelphia.

"It's a very, very significant place in the history of the Underground Railroad in Pennsylvania and the nation," he said.

Harris said he points out the Mifflin House while doing tours.

An undated early photo of the Mifflin House in Hellam Township with a different porch than it has today.

The house is not listed on the National Park Service's Network to Freedom, but it should be, Mingus said. Only the William C. Goodridge Freedom House and the Willis House in the York area are listed.

The house also played a role during the Civil War, Mingus said. The Confederates fired from the property toward the 20th Pennsylvania Volunteer Militia during the Wrightsville skirmish in June of 1863.

Two canons were deployed at that position, he said. One cannon likely would have been aimed toward the bridge. The other would have been facing the field toward the Union line.

LEARN: About Wrightsville's war memorials.

Katina Snyder, an officer with the Kreutz Creek Valley Preservation Society, said she, too, wants to see the house stand. Perhaps it could be turned into a visitor center or kept as a private house. She pointed out that the Alamo in San Antonio is surrounded by a city.

Donald Blessing said he has lived in the house since he was 5, and he was only away for about six years. His grandfather, Harry, had bought the property.

He said he's trying to gather a group, including Snyder and Mingus, who can fight to preserve the house. Blessing, who is a farmer, said he feels it's the right thing to do.

"York County just cannot afford to lose a historical site like this. They just can't. It's unconscionable," Snyder said.