McAllister's Mill Underground Railroad Station
Cumberland Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
At their grist mill on nearby Rock Creek, James McAllister and his family provided temporary shelter to hundreds of fugitive slaves. Now in ruin, it was part of one of the earliest UGRR networks through which freedom seekers passed on their way north. It was the site of a significant gathering of abolitionists on July 4, 1836, that led to the formation of the Adams County Anti-Slavery Society, an early and influential abolitionist organization.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
On the eve of the Civil War era, the McAllister family's grist mill on Rock Creek in Adams County became a haven for people escaping slavery. James McAllister and his family sheltered hundreds of freedom seekers as part of one of the earliest Underground Railroad networks carrying them north. On July 4, 1836, the site hosted a gathering of abolitionists that gave birth to the influential Adams County Anti-Slavery Society.
Why it matters
This quiet Pennsylvania mill was a working link in the secret network that helped hundreds toward freedom and an early cradle of the organized abolitionist movement.
Plan your visit
NearbyMake a day of it — museums, food, and places to stay near this marker.
Museums & culture
- Ford Motor Company Fund Education Center0.6 mi away
- Gettysburg Museum0.6 mi away
- Battlefield Military Museum1.0 mi away
- Casteel Sculptures1.2 mi away · 789 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Lincoln Train Museum1.3 mi away · 426 Steinwehr Avenue, Gettysburg, PA
- Gettysburg Heritage Center1.3 mi away · 297 Steinwehr Avenue, Gettysburg, PA
Attractions
- John Eisenhower Bridge2.8 mi away · Waterworks Road
- Sachs Covered Bridge3.2 mi away
- Sachs Covered Bridge3.2 mi away · Waterworks Road, Gettysburg, PA
Food & drink
- Reid's Winery Cider House1.5 mi away · 400 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Li's Buffet1.7 mi away · 165 York Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Upper Crust Pizza1.8 mi away · 19 York Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Borough BBQ1.8 mi away · 15 York Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Chinatown Kitchen1.8 mi away · 25 York Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Blue & Gray Bar & Grill1.8 mi away · 2 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA
Places to stay
- Comfort Suites0.9 mi away · 945 Baltimore Pike, Gettysburg, PA
- City Express1.1 mi away · 1857 Gettysburg Village Drive, Gettysburg, PA
- Holiday Inn Express & Suites1.2 mi away · 1971 Gettysburg Village Drive, Gettysburg, PA
- Quality Inn Gettysburg Battlefield1.3 mi away · 380 Steinwehr Avenue, Gettysburg, PA
- Colton Motel1.3 mi away · 232 Steinwehr Avenue, Gettysburg, PA
- Best Western1.3 mi away · 301 Steinwehr Avenue, Gettysburg, PA
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Related people
- · James McAllister
Related events
- · Formation of the Adams County Anti-Slavery Society, July 4, 1836
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Lincoln Cemetery
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Thaddeus Stevens
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Daniel Kaufman
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For more than a decade beginning in 1835, Daniel Kaufman risked ruin to help enslaved people fleeing north through Cumberland County. His barn and the dense woods nearby sheltered fugitives to whom he gave food and transport. In 1852 a Maryland slaveholder won a widely watched lawsuit against him, and Kaufman was fined the enormous sum of $4,000 for his defiance of the Fugitive Slave Law. He also founded the village of Boiling Springs.
Daniel Alexander Payne
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Born free in Charleston at a time when education for Black Americans was often outlawed, Daniel Alexander Payne became one of the 19th century's most influential Black religious leaders. While studying at Gettysburg's Lutheran Seminary in 1837 he also taught here at the college, and he went on to be elected a bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1852 and to lead Wilberforce University, one of the first colleges owned and run by African Americans.