Susquehanna Discovery Center & Heritage Park
August 2024 Project Update

Pete Miele, Senior Project Leader

As we savor the last days of summer, I’m excited to share the latest updates from our ongoing projects to transform the historic Mifflin Farm into the Susquehanna Discovery Center & Heritage Park.

Since July, momentum at Mifflin Farm has quickened. We’ve secured construction bids to begin the initial public access improvements, including a new driveway, parking area, and walking paths. These enhancements are set to be completed by the end of the year, paving the way for tours and events as early as late winter. Our visitor engagement team is busy crafting a schedule of regular tours and programs for next spring and summer, ensuring that visitors can experience this remarkable piece of history firsthand. In mid-August, we received the news that the PA Outdoor Corps will assist us next summer. A youth crew will spend a week extending a walking path down to the pond and around it, making it easier for visitors to explore this historic land.

In tandem with these developments, we’re focusing on essential site maintenance. After cleaning out the barn last year, our attention now turns to the home and surrounding grounds. This work includes clearing vegetation, removing outdated fixtures, and prepping the house’s interior for small group tours. We’ve also contracted a construction firm to stabilize the leaning corn crib and repair the roof and floor of the main barn area.

We’re not just stopping there. We’re aiming for national recognition of this historic site. In July, we applied to list the home on the Underground Railroad Network to Freedom by the National Park Service and received an updated Determination of Eligibility from the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. Additionally, we’ve applied for a grant from the National Park Service to fund a Historic Structures Report for the home, a vital step in understanding its appearance during its days as an active Underground Railroad station and providing a guide for future rehabilitation. We have also begun conversations with the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, a worldwide network of museums and historic sites dedicated to promoting human rights. We look forward to making Susquehanna Discovery Center & Heritage Park part of this association.

Our collaboration with Mahan Rykiel Associates (MRA) has also kicked into high gear. In July, our team met with Scott Scarfone, our lead contact at MRA, to map out the year-long Master Planning/Interpretive Framework process. Later this month, key stakeholders, including task force members, board members, funders, and government officials, will gather with MRA consultants at Columbia Crossing River Trails Center for a two-day kickoff meeting. Together, we will further develop our vision for the Susquehanna Discovery Center & Heritage Park.

Thank you for your support of this special project. For the first time in over 200 years, guests will soon be able to safely access and discover the critical role this property played in the fight for freedom.

Heritage Area Announces Peter Miele as its new Senior Project Leader

The Susquehanna National Heritage Area (SNHA) has announced the hiring of Peter Miele, effective July 8, 2024. Mr. Miele will serve as the new Senior Project Leader for the Susquehanna Discovery Center project at the historic Mifflin site.

Miele will primarily be responsible for coordinating the planning, design, development, and funding of the Susquehanna Discovery Center & Heritage Park (SDC). SDC is a $20+ million, 5-10-year, multi-phase initiative to redevelop the historic Mifflin house and farm near the Susquehanna River in Wrightsville, PA as a new gateway visitor destination. The site includes 90 acres of scenic and historic landscape and buildings associated with important Underground Railroad and Civil War history.

“Peter brings an excellent mix of academic credentials and on-the-ground management experience in a museum and education setting that shares Civil War and Underground Railroad heritage with the Mifflin site. We look forward to welcoming Peter and working with him to develop the Susquehanna Discovery Center & Heritage Park,” said Mark Platts, President & CEO of the Susquehanna National Heritage Area.

Miele will continue to serve as the President & Executive Director of Seminary Ridge Museum and Education Center until June 30, 2024, where he worked since 2014 to restore, preserve and maintain national historic Civil War properties, architecture, and historic legacies of Seminary Ridge. Miele’s work experience also includes positions at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania and Northern Valley Regional High School in Demarest, NJ.

The Susquehanna National Heritage Area is a designated State and National Heritage Area focused on preserving, interpreting, and sharing the natural, cultural, and historic resources of Lancaster and York Counties and their shared landscape along the Susquehanna River. Through collaborative efforts, the National Heritage Area seeks to celebrate the region’s history and foster a deeper appreciation for its unique communities and landscapes.

IGNITE FINALE AT JOHN WRIGHT RESTAURANT LAWN

234 N. Front St., Wrightsville
Sunday, June 29th from 4 PM-9 PM

Live Music from Dill Weed!

Bring a lawn chair or blanket! Enjoy music from Dill Weed – a fun and folksy trio. Historic Wrightsville Incorporated will be selling some of the best burgers, hot dogs, and more starting at 5 PM! CASH ONLY.  John Wright Restaurant’s Pizza Patio will be open from 4 PM to 9 PM. 

8:30 PM – 9 PM Ignite Finale

The fiery tradition of lighting the piers on fire at dusk continues! Join us at 8:30 PM with a fire performance from The Teine Guardians. They will amaze you with fire spinning, breathing and even eating! Then, at 8:45 PM, the story of the bridge burning will be read as the first three piers over the Susquehanna River are lit ablaze.

Donate to support Susquehanna National Heritage Area and Rivertownes PA USA to keep doing Riverfest!!

Thanks to all our Riverfest Sponsors!

Protect Cuffs Run

Susquehanna National Heritage Area is working diligently to oppose the proposed hydroelectric facility along the Susquehanna River at Cuffs Run. The Reading-based York Energy Storage, LLC submitted a Preliminary Permit application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). In March of 2023, our organization took official action in opposition to the project. Since then, SNHA worked in collaboration with our partners to stop the project that would flood nearly 600 acres of land along the Susquehanna River rich with natural, cultural, and recreational resources. Now is the time to defend our river, and we ask you to join us in protecting Cuffs Run. Comments and motions to intervene can be filed through March 31, 2024 to FERC and our partners at the Lancaster Conservancy have created an easy guide on how to submit your comments.

This is the fourth attempt to advance this type of project at this location. Previous efforts in 1970s, 1990 and 2011 were withdrawn after local opposition, including by Susquehanna National Heritage Area (SNHA) in 2011. The revived project is as concerning as previous proposals, especially after 20+ years of federal, state, and local investment in land conservation, recreation, and heritage and outdoor tourism along this part of the river. This includes major initiatives by the National Park Service, PA Department of Conservation & Natural Resources (DCNR), SNHA, Lancaster Conservancy, Farm & Natural Lands Trust, Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper, Lancaster and York Counties, local municipalities, and others.

The Susquehanna Riverlands of York and Lancaster counties are a conservation landscape now, not a development landscape. The future for this area is heritage tourism, outdoor recreation, river town revitalization, and small business development, not massive, man-made impoundments that flood woodlands, farms, homes, hiking trails, and historic landscapes to generate power that uses more energy than it produces simply for higher corporate profits, and then sends it out of state with little value to Pennsylvanians.

The project will produce fewer permanent jobs than the local heritage and conservation groups have already created in just a few years. Imagine if the $2.5 billion proposed for this project was instead invested in more land protection, historic preservation, parks, trails, and community revitalization efforts. That would be true sustainable economic development and make our area an even more desirable place to live, work, and play than it already is.

We are asking you now to raise your voice and send your comment to FERC before it’s too late.

Learn How to Submit FERC Comments

File a Comment Online using Reference Docket P-15332-000

Susquehanna National Heritage Area’s Motion to Intervene

THE CONSERVATION FUND TRANSFERS HISTORIC PENNSYLVANIA UNDERGROUND RAILROAD SITE TO SUSQUEHANNA NATIONAL HERITAGE AREA

Permanently preserved 87-acre Mifflin House and farmstead near Wrightsville in York County will be the home of the future Susquehanna Discovery Center & Heritage Park

Wrightsville, PA (December 15, 2023) — The Conservation Fund (TCF), a leading nonprofit in U.S. land and water protection, has transferred ownership of a property that played a key role in the Underground Railroad in Pennsylvania to the Susquehanna National Heritage Area (SNHA). The historic Mifflin House and 87-acre farmstead had been under threat of demolition and development before TCF acquired it in 2022. Now it will serve as the future home of the Susquehanna Discovery Center & Heritage Park, with the Susquehanna National Heritage Area making initial public access improvements to the property in 2024. Susquehanna National Heritage Area will continue to fundraise to support the acquisition and development of the site.

The Mifflin House, located in Hellam Township in York County, was an important stop on the Underground Railroad in the 1800s, serving as a safe haven for freedom seekers passing through central Pennsylvania. With the assistance of the Mifflin family, their fellow Quakers, and other local Black and white residents, those escaping slavery found a safe place to rest and cross the Susquehanna River on their journey north.

“Preserving the Mifflin House is not just about protecting a physical structure; it’s about honoring the stories and contributions of those who came before us,” said Kyle Shenk, Northeast Regional Director at TCF. “We are proud to have played a role in ensuring that this important piece of history remains a source of inspiration and education for generations to come.”

The site’s permanent preservation showcases the power of partnerships in preserving our nation’s history, involving a years-long collaborative effort between The Conservation Fund, Susquehanna National Heritage Area, Preservation Pennsylvania, community stakeholders, local foundations, state agencies, and local, state and federal elected officials.

“We are thrilled to welcome the Mifflin House into the Susquehanna National Heritage Area family,” said Mark Platts, President of Susquehanna National Heritage Area. “This acquisition aligns seamlessly with our mission to connect the people and communities of Lancaster and York Counties to one another and to the nation through stories about this nationally important place. We look forward to working with the community to ensure the Mifflin House continues to be a beacon of cultural significance for generations to come.”

The Conservation Fund and Susquehanna National Heritage Area extend their gratitude to all partners, supporters, and the local community for their dedication to the preservation of the Mifflin House and farmstead. Preservation Pennsylvania led early efforts to highlight the importance of the Mifflin site and hold off development through public awareness and legal challenges. The late Tim Kinsley, through Kinsley Properties, facilitated the transaction with the Blessing Family to allow time for TCF and SNHA to raise funds and purchase the property at a bargain sale. Funding for the project was made possible by the PA Department of Conservation & Natural Resources C2P2 Program, County of York through its Open Space & Land Preservation Grant Program and other discretionary funds, PA Department of Community & Economic Development through ARPA funding and a state gaming grant to Wrightsville Borough, and generous local foundations, including the Powder Mill Foundation, Arthur J. & Lee R. Glatfelter Foundation and J. Wm. Warehime Foundation.

With acquisition now complete, Susquehanna National Heritage Area will begin a multi-year planning, design, fundraising, and development effort with the community to transform the Mifflin site into The Susquehanna Discovery Center & Heritage Park.

About The Conservation Fund

The Conservation Fund protects the land that sustains us all. We are in the business of conservation, creating innovative solutions that drive nature-based action in all 50 states for climate protection, vibrant communities and sustainable economies. We apply effective strategies, efficient financing approaches, and enduring government, community and private partnerships to protect millions of acres of America’s natural land, cultural sites, recreation areas and working forests and farms. To learn more, visit www.conservationfund.org.

About Susquehanna National Heritage Area

The Susquehanna National Heritage Area is a designated State and National Heritage Area focused on preserving, interpreting, and sharing the natural, cultural, and historic resources of Lancaster and York Counties and their shared landscape along the Susquehanna River. Through collaborative efforts, the National Heritage Area seeks to celebrate the region’s history and foster a deeper appreciation for its unique communities and landscapes.

RiverRoots: The Black Defenders of the Susquehanna

River Roots is Susquehanna NHA’s blog series featuring history from York and Lancaster Counties that showcases the Susquehanna River’s historic, cultural, and natural resource contributions to our nation’s heritage.

Susquehanna NHA is pleased to introduce guest blog writer, local historian, and author Scott Mingus.

RiverRoots Heritage Blog

Join Mr. Mingus for a lecture at Columbia Crossing River Trail Center on December 13, 2023! This is a part of SNHA’s RiverRoots LIVE! Lecture Series.

Purchase Tickets Here!

The Black Defenders of the Susquehanna

In the late spring of 1863, the Army of Northern Virginia, the Confederacy’s main military force in the Eastern Theater of the Civil War, began moving north through Virginia and Maryland toward south-central Pennsylvania. Its commander, famed General Robert E. Lee, hoped to win a major victory on Northern soil, sever critical Union supply routes, and gather much-needed supplies. A full third of his army, Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell’s Second Corps, had arrived in Franklin County by June 23 and the remainder was well on the way.

Ewell split his powerful corps, leading two divisions northeasterly through lush Cumberland County toward Pennsylvania’s capital city, Harrisburg, while Maj. Gen. Jubal Early’s 6,600-man division headed east through Adams County, capturing fresh horses and supplies along the way. After a brief fight at Gettysburg on a rainy Friday, June 26, Early left the next morning for York, the largest town between Harrisburg and Baltimore. He would ransom York for $100,000 in cash and massive amounts of shoes, boots, food, flour, cattle, and other goods.

Terrified citizens fled as Ewell’s twin columns marched steadily toward the vital Susquehanna River bridges at Bridgeport (now Lemoyne) and Wrightsville, which provided access to strategically important Harrisburg. General Lee had instructed Ewell to “capture Harrisburg, if it comes within your means.” Town after town fell to the approaching Confederates and by, Sunday, June 28, Carlisle and York were firmly under enemy control, as was Chambersburg.

Defending the broad river became a priority to halt or delay the Confederates long enough for the pursuing Union Army of the Potomac to catch up and bring Lee to battle. Those plans included potentially burning sections of the Camelback Bridge at Bridgeport and Columbia Bridge at Wrightsville if necessary to prevent the Confederate soldiers and their artillery and wagons from crossing the Susquehanna.

A motley force of Union troops and civilian home guard companies assembled at Wrightsville. They included a full regiment of hastily organized and barely trained Pennsylvania emergency militia and several companies from other state-authorized units, including detachments of cavalrymen from Philadelphia and Gettysburg. The five home guard units defending the Wrightsville crossing included four companies of white men from Lancaster County and one of Black volunteers, mostly employees of the Maltby & Case Rolling Mill in Columbia. The latter group made an immediate impression on the soldiers. “They presented a motley appearance, attired as they were in every description of citizens’ dress,” an observer later wrote (Pottsville Miner’s Journal, 24 October 1863).  None wore uniforms; most carried outdated weapons.

Earlier in the year, abolitionist Frederick Douglass had visited Lancaster County to raise men for the 54th and 55th Massachusetts Infantry, Black soldiers serving under white officers. Forty-one men from the river region signed up for the two regiments at various times and headed for Boston. Now, more than 50 other Black men in Captain William Case’s home guard company shouldered weapons to help defend the mile-and-a-quarter-long Columbia Bridge, the longest covered bridge in the world. They lacked uniforms and military equipment, so the 27th Pennsylvania Volunteer Militia’s quartermaster supplied them with modern rifle muskets and ammunition. Until the enemy arrived, however, these Black home guardsmen toiled side-by-side with the state soldiers to dig trenches and protective rifle pits (much like World War II’s foxholes). Lieutenant Francis Wallace, a newspaper reporter from Pottsville, served in the 27th Militia. “No men on that day worked more faithfully or zealously, than the colored company,” he later wrote. “Their conduct elicited the admiration of all who saw them” (Pottsville Miner’s Journal, 24 October 1863).

York lawyer James W. Latimer and his friend James Kell took a train to Harrisburg to see Governor Curtin, a fellow Republican, to get an update on the Confederate invasion. Peering out the window of his railcar as it approached Wrightsville, Latimer watched the back-breaking construction efforts in the fields to the north. “They are digging rifle-pits and throwing up entrenchments at Wrightsville to protect the Columbia bridge and say they are acting under orders from Gen. Couch. They have a force of men on the bridge night and day to destroy it if necessary.”

Throughout Sunday morning, June 28, a steady stream of refugees passed through the Union position on the turnpike between York and Wrightsville. They shared graphic descriptions of the Confederate advance through Adams and York counties. The excitement that morning was high, despite a persistent drizzle. The fleeing crowds included large numbers of Black men, women, and children, as well as hordes of livestock. Lieutenant Wallace observed, “The negroes are especially anxious to elude the rebels as they fear they would be made slaves if captured” (Pottsville Miner’s Journal, 4 July 1863). Despite the danger, Captain Case’s Black volunteers stayed put, even when the four companies of white home guardsmen returned to Columbia for breakfast but failed to return.

Alongside the 27th Militia, the 53 Black men, including 15-year-old John Aquilla Wilson of Fawn Grove in southeastern York County, continued entrenching. A few must have questioned their fate should they fall into Confederate hands. Free Black people who were captured by Confederate forces throughout the war often received shackles and a trip into slavery. Even uniformed Black soldiers were not treated as prisoners of war in several cases. The Wrightsville volunteers kept their muskets and ammunition stacked nearby.

At 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, distant Confederate artillery opened fire on the entrenchments. The defenders huddled behind the earthworks as shell fragments rained down, almost decapitating one of the Black guardsmen. A New York Herald reporter wrote, “Our men gave them a volley or two from their rifle-pits, knocking six or eight over and losing two themselves, one of whom belonged to a colored company organized in the town. His head was shattered by a fragment from one of the enemy shells” (New York Herald, 30 June 1863).

Two hours later, as long lines of enemy soldiers began flanking the horseshoe-shaped position, the Union commander ordered a retreat across the bridge into Columbia. Civilian volunteers had previously prepared a 200-foot section of the bridge with charges of explosive gunpowder. Once most of the men were safely across, orders came to light the fuse. An “old colored man,” Jacob Miller, had the honor. He sat calmly smoking his cigar while the artillery shells whizzed overhead. Now, he touched that stogie to the fuse and scampered to safety. However, the explosion failed to destroy the sturdy bridge deck and merely blew out some side walls and pieces of the roofing. The charge “simply splintered the arch. It scarcely shook the bridge” (John Q. Denney deposition, 1863).

The black volunteer company performed well that day, surprising considering their lack of combat experience. A Philadelphia correspondent noted, “Two companies of colored troops remained in the intrenchments [sic] until ordered to retreat. They were volunteers, and behaved very well, except in the retreat, which was accomplished rather hastily.” They reassembled on a hill along Third Street in Columbia. The militia commander detached one group upriver to guard a ford at Bainbridge. They marched out to their new post, “bearing themselves like veteran soldiers” according to a witness. (Philadelphia Inquirer, 29 June 1863)

Having failed to destroy the bridge with explosives, the soldiers hastily doused the partially shattered section with coal oil and set it on fire. The wind shifted and soon the conflagration grew into an unquenchable inferno that engulfed the entire bridge. Six hours later, it was entirely gone as thousands of fascinated soldiers and civilians watched the flames dance into the night sky.

By morning, the Confederates were gone, having withdrawn at dawn toward York. The defenders had successfully accomplished their goal of preventing the enemy soldiers from crossing the Susquehanna River.

The Sunday events at Wrightsville had another favorable outcome—newfound respect for black volunteers. They had shouldered arms alongside the white soldiers and performed courageously. Lancaster’s Examiner and Herald trumpeted, “The only Columbia volunteers in the fight were fifty-three negros, who after making entrenchments with the soldiers, took muskets and fought bravely” (1 July 1863). In his official report, militia commander Col. Jacob Frick praised the excellent conduct of these black civilians. “After working industriously in the rifle pits all day, when the fight commenced they took their guns and stood up to their work bravely. They fell back only when ordered to do so” (War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 27, pt.2, 279). Lieutenant Francis Wallace wrote to his Pottsville paper, “All honor to the colored men of Columbia. They will die in defense of life and liberty, which is more than a majority of the whites here seem disposed to do—the cravens” (Pottsville Miner’s Journal, 4 July 1863).

In Harrisburg, Darius Couch oversaw the Department of the Susquehanna, a military district stretching from the Laurel Highlands east to Philadelphia. He later wrote, “The militia of Pennsylvania raised to resist the invasion was composed of all classes and professions, and was a fine body of men.” Thankful for the hundreds of Harrisburg residents who constructed earthworks, he added, “Some of the patriotic citizens of that city volunteered to work in the trenches; others were paid. The colored population were not far behind their white brethren in giving assistance.”

Unfortunately, the name of the Black volunteer killed by Confederate artillery has been lost to history. Columbia’s black cemeteries and churches did not maintain detailed records during this period. The only existing muster roll for the Columbia Black volunteers is from November, well after the skirmish. Some Black men who shouldered muskets in the earthworks, including young John Aquilla Wilson of York County, later enlisted in three-year United States Colored Troops and fought in other battles against the Confederates. They never forgot their first military experience, defending the Susquehanna.

Meet the Guest Writer Scott Mingus

Scott L. Mingus, Sr., is a retired scientist and executive in the global pulp & paper industry, holds patents in self-adhesive postage stamps and bar code labels. He was part of the research team that developed the first commercially successful self-adhesive U.S. postage stamps. He is a multiple award-winning author, having written or co-written over three dozen books on the American Civil War and Underground Railroad. He also wrote several articles for Gettysburg Magazine and other journals. Scott maintains a blog on the Civil War history of York County PA and received the Heritage Profile Award from the York County History Center for his many contributions to local Civil War history.

Black Gold Opens at Columbia Crossing

Susquehanna National Heritage Area has revealed a new exhibition at Columbia Crossing River Trails Center. Black Gold: A Look Back at the Effects of Anthracite Coal on the Susquehanna River Anthracite coal was discovered in massive quantities across the northern branch of the Susquehanna River.  It remains the only reserve of anthracite coal in the United States. The region was heavily mined in the 19th century and early 20th century.  Canal boats filled with coal jammed the river at Columbia. The anthracite coal was essential to the nearby pig iron furnaces but was also shipped all over the country. The anthracite coal industry changed the Pennsylvania economy and environment. 

Lynn Smoker, the collector and historian behind Columbia Crossing’s popular “Ice Harvesting” and “Hunting and Fishing” exhibits, has created a brand-new exhibition that tells the story of anthracite coal on the Susquehanna. Come experience Smoker’s vast collection of tools, art, photographs, and more. The exhibit will be on display at Columbia Crossing River Trails Center from July 2023-March 2024 and is free to the public. Columbia Crossing is open Tuesday-Sunday.