A years-long fight over an historic property in Whitemarsh Township, near Plymouth Meeting in Montgomery County continues this week as a developer and a group of preservationists make their cases in a township zoning hearing.

At issue is a property that was once a stop along the Underground Railroad, sheltering African-American slaves who had escaped Southern plantations and were traveling toward freedom, writes Peter Crimmins of WHYY for the Philadelphia Business Journal.

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At the intersection of Germantown and Butler pikes sits a 10-acre parcel of land with three buildings: a farmhouse, a carriage house, and a barn built in the late-18th and early 19th centuries.

Around 1856, owner George Corson expanded his carriage house into Abolition Hall where those opposed to slavery could discuss civil disobedience against the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act that allowed local governments to capture and return runaway slaves. Runaway slaves also found safe haven within Abolition Hall.

The property is still owned by Corson descendants, and they want to sell. A publicly traded development corporation, K. Hovnanian, is looking to buy the 10 acres, plus some additional adjacent land, to build 67 townhomes.

To read the complete story click here.

MONTCO.Today received an email after this story published that included a letter from K. Hovnanian’s area counsel detailing the project, including a commitment to the preservation of the Abolition Hall.

Plans for the development can be found here. 

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