Hard to fathom the scheme of travel and hiding, fear of discovery, and hunters of escaping slaves.
It's nice to visit a small gem like this home on the underground railroad.
I would have rated it a four, but the charge for a tour of the house is a waste. They used to just take donations and did fine, considering that the place is maintained by the county what are their real expenses? There isn't a good written history of Rev. Hitchcock, so plan on a mix of fact and myth from the guides. A few things of note, when you enter the park you are actually looking at the rear of the house. To the West of the house you will see a marker for a son killed in a shooting accident. From that point turn your body West and at the property edge there might be a couple more buried. At that time a few miles South of the house was the "Mormon Trail" and though no one has used Ground Penatrating Radar some suggest more are buried on the grounds. If you stand at the South East corner of the house and look S.E. you might see the Nishnabotna river. This was the likely path that the escaping slaves would have followed from the last home or "station" to the South West, through Lewis and on toward Des Moines. This was part of their Exodus from Missouri to Canada. Look further to the S.E. and you can see the area where the stone was quarried for the home. The home is fitted with period furniture and isn't really impressive. The basement looks for all intents and purposes a "half basement", but in reality it's a full basement with a dividing wall, a doorway from one side to the other with cabinetry of some type covering. The biggest risk for the ex-slave was in coming or going, since the men hunting the slaves would have never dare harassed a "man of the cloth". Note there are a protected spieces of snake that live in the hollow spaces in the stone walls and can be scene crawling around in the basement during the summer. Don't freak, the are small (about the size of a large worm) and are a cool added feature. Ignore reviews on Google with nothing but a bunch of stars and a "Duh" statement. If they don't think it's worth writing about, you shouldn't feel obligated to read it. Jeff
We cant forget this place or the fine people that have kept it going!!!
Underground Railroad is a significant part of our history. And the guide for our tour really brought it to life.
Nice setting in rural Lewis, Iowa. Glad that local citizens salvaged this historic home from destruction by drinking partiers of the past.
Hitchcock House is a US Point Of Interest based in Lewis, Iowa. Hitchcock House is located at 63788 567th Ln, Lewis, IA 51544, USA.
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