“This is a local story that fits into a national context,” Miele said. “We want visitors to walk away understanding that history isn’t just in textbooks—it happened right here, and it still shapes the world we live in today.” 

Peter (Pete) Miele’14, Senior Project Leader at the Susquehanna National Heritage Area (SNHA) and alumnus of the applied history master’s program at Ship, shared his remarks on his efforts to preserve the Mifflin House. This landmark serves as a well-documented Underground Railroad site, which is set to open to the public this spring. 

Peter (Pete) Miele’14

“The Mifflin House is one of the best-preserved Underground Railroad sites in the region,” Miele said. “What makes it unique is that we have solid documentation, and the house has remained largely unchanged for over two centuries.” 

The Underground Railroad served as a secret network of safe houses and routes that helped enslaved people escape to freedom in the North. While many of the sites no longer exist, the Mifflin House remains a prominent landmark. 

“The Underground Railroad is often thought of as something that happened elsewhere,” Miele said. “But it was happening right here, in people’s backyards,” said Miele. 

The Mifflin House operated as an Underground Railroad station between 1805 and 1846. This was during a time after Pennsylvania had passed a “gradual emancipation” law but before a widespread abolitionist movement was formed. Freedom seekers arriving at the Mifflin House were hosted by the Mifflin family, who were white Quakers that worked closely with free Black individuals such as Robert Loney, a boatman who ferried freedom seekers across the Susquehanna River. 

“This was an interracial effort,” Miele emphasized. “Black and white abolitionists worked together to help people move toward freedom in a loosely organized effort, which isn’t something you see as often in later years of the Underground Railroad.” 

In recent years, the Mifflin House was at risk of destruction, with plans to develop the land for a warehouse. The York County community, along with key partners such as Preservation Pennsylvania and The Conservation Fund, partnered with the SNHA to help secure the property in 2023. The Conservation Fund held the property for more than a year while SNHA secured the funding for its purchase. Now, efforts are in place to develop the site into an educational center that honors the region’s deep-rooted ties to the fight for freedom. 

Miele and his colleagues are in the early stages of planning how the site will exactly be used, although one of the site’s main purposes will be to highlight to visitors the physical journey that freedom seekers had to take to cross through to the north. 

“We’re developing what we’re calling the Freedom Trail,” Miele said. “There will be a walking path from the house to the river, allowing visitors to follow in the footsteps of those who sought freedom.”

What makes the Mifflin House unique from other Underground Railroad sites is that freedom seekers were not kept hidden in secret compartments or basements; rather, they were housed openly in the parlor of the home.

“That tells us something about the Mifflins and their commitment,” Miele noted. “It suggests they saw these individuals not as fugitives to be hidden away, but as guests in their home”

The overarching goal of the project is not only to preserve the history but to create a deeper conversation surrounding it. Miele has gathered local historians, including Black scholars, to ensure that the stories being told are accurately represented and that the right voices are at the forefront.

“I’m a historian, but these aren’t my stories to tell,” Miele said. “We want to make sure we’re being methodical, testing our interpretation, and involving those whose histories are directly tied to this site.”

As Mifflin House prepares to open to the public, Miele hopes it will challenge people’s preconceived notions and educate them on the drastic impact that slavery had on our nation.

“Slavery wasn’t just a Southern institution—it affected every part of the country, including Pennsylvania,” he said. “Even though we were a ‘free state,’ slavery persisted here, and the fight for freedom was ongoing.”

Mifflin site in York County, PA.

Read more about the site:

https://susqnha.org/susquehanna-discovery-center-heritage-park-project-update-february-2025/

https://susqnha.org/susquehanna-discovery-center-heritage-park-project-update-january-2025/