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Montco’s Abolition Hall, an Underground Railroad stop, will be preserved

Abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass, Lucretia Mott, and Harriet Beecher Stowe spoke at the property’s barn, which was built in 1856 and came to be known as Abolition Hall.

Abolition Hall, built in 1856 by adding onto a carriage shed at the rear of a stone barn, once hosted speakers including William Lloyd Garrison, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Lucretia Mott. Whitemarsh Township and the Whitemarsh Art Center finalized a deal to buy and preserve the property Thursday.
Abolition Hall, built in 1856 by adding onto a carriage shed at the rear of a stone barn, once hosted speakers including William Lloyd Garrison, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Lucretia Mott. Whitemarsh Township and the Whitemarsh Art Center finalized a deal to buy and preserve the property Thursday.Read moreSTEVEN M. FALK / Staff Photographer

A Plymouth Meeting farm that served as an Underground Railroad stop and in recent years attracted developers has officially been preserved.

In a deal finalized Thursday, Whitemarsh Township and the nonprofit Whitemarsh Art Center paid $3.95 million for the more than 10-acre property off Butler Pike that includes buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The art center plans to move to the property. Other uses have yet to be determined.

The property in Whitemarsh Township was purchased with earned income tax funds that the township uses to preserve open space and a $2 million grant to the art center from the Karabots Foundation, a family-run philanthropic nonprofit.

» READ MORE: Developer drops plans for townhouses at Underground Railroad site, but several others want it

In the 19th century, the property was owned by George Corson, who hosted abolitionist rallies and helped enslaved people who had escaped bondage. Abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass, Lucretia Mott, and Harriet Beecher Stowe spoke at the property’s barn, which was built in 1856 and came to be known as Abolition Hall. Before the opening of the barn, the homestead was an established station on the Underground Railroad.

“This is a landmark moment for our community and the entire region,” Laura Boyle-Nester, chair of the Whitemarsh Township Board of Supervisors, said in a statement. “Abolition Hall, the Hovenden House and the Corson Homestead are significant pieces of our history and we are ecstatic that we have protected them for future generations.”

In 2020, developer K. Hovnanian Homes withdrew plans to build 67 townhouses on the property and ended its five-year-old agreement of sale, without giving the township a reason for pulling out. The proposal for the townhome community kept historic buildings standing, but a grassroots group opposed the plan over concerns about preserving the integrity of the site.

Other developers expressed interest in the property.

» READ MORE: An Underground Railroad site in Montgomery County eyed by developers will be preserved

The township has been wanting to buy it for years, but the property owners rejected its previous proposals, hoping to make more money on the sale. State rules limit how much the township could pay for the property.

The donation from the Karabots family made the sale on Thursday possible, township officials said.

The township and the art center entered into an agreement of sale for the property in April 2021. The art center, which offers programs for children and adults, had been looking for a new home.

“The Karabots Foundation and the township have created a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to preserve history and extend educational opportunities for the community,” Dan Zuena, president of the Whitemarsh Art Center Board of Directors, said in a statement.