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Preservation of Historic Mifflin House Upheld by York County Court
York County Common Pleas Court has affirmed the decisions of the Hellam Township Zoning Hearing Board and Township Supervisors, denying the appeal of those decisions by York County developer Kinsley Equities II, LLP, and protecting the historic Mifflin House from demolition. A well-documented safe house as part of the Underground Railroad, the Mifflin House, built in 1800, has been spared from the plans of the developer and his partners, the Blessing Family, to expand the firm's business and industrial trucking operations which would have led to the destruction of this irreplaceable site in American history.
York County Judge Michael W. Flannelly, in a ruling handed down Thursday, July 18, agreed with the local governments and the supporting intervention court filings by the statewide education and advocacy organization, Preservation Pennsylvania, and Hellam Township-based Kreutz Creek Valley Preservation Society. Those parties jointly staked their position that is was necessary and proper to expect that the historic farmstead should be retained and preserved in any plans going foward because of a notation on the site plan for the business park, recorded in 1998, that states: "Existing Farm Complex to Remain."
During nearly two years of community events, public meetings and court filings, the two non-profit preservation organizations supplied witnesses and documentary evidence supporting the position that it was necessary to retain the farm complex based on the community's knowledge and understanding that the property on Cool Springs Road near the US Route 30 Wrightsville interchange holds deep historic significance on a local, state and national level. Multiple sources of evidence have been presented to verify that the Mifflin House was used for nearly 50 years as a station on the Underground Railroad, from the early to mid-19th century, as part of those multi-site anti-slavery operations that provided safety and passage for people of African descent out of the bondage they were held in US Southern states from the earliest days of the nation.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE COURT'S DECISION
York County Common Pleas Court has affirmed the decisions of the Hellam Township Zoning Hearing Board and Township Supervisors, denying the appeal of those decisions by York County developer Kinsley Equities II, LLP, and protecting the historic Mifflin House from demolition. A well-documented safe house as part of the Underground Railroad, the Mifflin House, built in 1800, has been spared from the plans of the developer and his partners, the Blessing Family, to expand the firm's business and industrial trucking operations which would have led to the destruction of this irreplaceable site in American history.
York County Judge Michael W. Flannelly, in a ruling handed down Thursday, July 18, agreed with the local governments and the supporting intervention court filings by the statewide education and advocacy organization, Preservation Pennsylvania, and Hellam Township-based Kreutz Creek Valley Preservation Society. Those parties jointly staked their position that is was necessary and proper to expect that the historic farmstead should be retained and preserved in any plans going foward because of a notation on the site plan for the business park, recorded in 1998, that states: "Existing Farm Complex to Remain."
During nearly two years of community events, public meetings and court filings, the two non-profit preservation organizations supplied witnesses and documentary evidence supporting the position that it was necessary to retain the farm complex based on the community's knowledge and understanding that the property on Cool Springs Road near the US Route 30 Wrightsville interchange holds deep historic significance on a local, state and national level. Multiple sources of evidence have been presented to verify that the Mifflin House was used for nearly 50 years as a station on the Underground Railroad, from the early to mid-19th century, as part of those multi-site anti-slavery operations that provided safety and passage for people of African descent out of the bondage they were held in US Southern states from the earliest days of the nation.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE COURT'S DECISION