Commemorating an historic stone arch bridge, circa 1830
Pine Creek, Christiana, Pennsylvania, Lancaster & Chester Counties
Installation of an historical marker, September 2020
Perspective & Interpretation Origin, Engineering & Design of the Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad
Its Growth and Evolution as a Key Section of the Pennsylvania Main Line of Public Works (1826-2014)
Prepared for the Lancaster Chapter—National Railway Historical Society, Christiana, Lancaster County, PA
By Randolph Harris and Joshua Shultz, Consulting Historians, Lancaster, PA
Copyright—Lancaster Chapter—National Railway Historical Society, Christiana, Lancaster County, PA, September 2020 1
This permanent outdoor marker is installed behind the Charles Bond Company property, Christiana, Lancaster County, which abuts Pine Creek, the county’s eastern
border with Chester County. The marker measures 30 X 20 inches. The bridge can be seen at right in the illustration on this marker. Also visible is the large reservoir
of water behind the arch which was used as a dam. The dam’s water flow was used to power belt driven machinery in the shop.
Copyright—Lancaster Chapter—National Railway Historical Society, Christiana, Lancaster County, PA, September 2020 2
Marker Text
1827 – Land is surveyed between
Philadelphia and Columbia, Lan-
caster County for a new transpor-
tation system to open the state’s
interior to settlement and com-
merce. The goal is to link Philadel-
phia to Pittsburgh and compete
with New York’s Erie Canal.
1828 – Pennsylvania legislature
abandons plans for a canal on ad-
vice of surveyors John A. Wilson,
his son W. Hassell Wilson and J.
Edgar Thomson, later president
of Pennsylvania Railroad, charter-
ing what becomes the second rail-
road line in the United States: the
82-mile Philadelphia & Columbia
Railroad.
Marker at Christiana stone bridge over Pine Creek, Lancaster & Chester Counties -
Honoring an early railroad & its heritage as pathway to freedom for enslaved people
1831 to 1834 – Skilled masons
quarry stone nearby to build this
bridge.
1833 – Entrepreneur William Noble
builds a foundry here. The stone arch
partially dams the creek, so the water-
flow powers his works. The bridge ap-
pears in the factory illustration here at
right. It remains as one of the last
spans of its kind from this era.
April 16, 1834 – Locomotive
“Black Hawk” is the first locomotive
engine to cross this bridge; leaving
Lancaster at 8 AM with state legisla-
tors and others, arriving in Philadelph-
ia at 4:30 PM.
1838 – Black business owners Ste-
phen Smith and William Whipper of
Columbia, Lancaster County modify
their lumber freight cars with secret
compartments to transport those
formerly enslaved to Philadelphia,
making this rail line a fast and rela-
tively safe route on what has be-
come known as The Underground
Railroad.
1846 – P&CRR reorganizes into
Pennsylvania Railroad, prioritizing
speed and efficiency.
1854 – Track is removed from the
bridge and the line shifted to the
current right of way.
2010 – National Underground Rail-
road Network to Freedom recog-
nizes the present Amtrak line from
Lancaster to Philadelphia as a mid-
19th century pathway of the Under-
ground Railroad.
Copyright—Lancaster Chapter—National Railway Historical Society, Christiana, Lancaster County, PA, September 2020 3
N
South Central Pennsylvania/
Northern Maryland/Northern Virginia
Circa 1820—Early transportation corridors, some of which later were used to
develop railroads, such as the Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad right of way
( shown in red). This rail line was used by formerly enslaved freedom seekers as
part of what became known as The Underground Railroad by about 1838.
Illustration adapted from, History of the Cumberland Valley Railroad, 1835-1919, by Paul West-
haeffer. National Railway Historical Society, Washington D.C. Chapter, 1979. Science Press,
Ephrata, Pennsylvania.
The Authors
Joshua Shultz is a life-long resident of Lancaster. He is a 2012 Graduate of J.P. McCaskey High School and graduat-ed in 2016 from Millersville University with a Bachelors of Science degree with a specialty in architectural drafting. He is currently a Project Manager/Architectural Drafter with a local residential construction company. Mr. Shultz also serves in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard as a 1st Lieutenant. His interest in railroad history stems from a love of architecture, general history, local history, and both mechanical and civil engineering. Working on the Pine Creek Bridge project is the beginning of what he hopes to be a long historical consulting venture.
Randolph Harris is a resident of Lancaster and a native of the Pittsburgh area. A former journalist and communica-tions specialist, he is a graduate of Point Park University, Pittsburgh, and served for seven years as Executive Direc-tor of the Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County. He is now an independent consultant, focusing on the research and documentation of historic properties, with a special emphasis on sites associated with the Under-ground Railroad. Harris has been responsible for the listing of 21 of the approximately 60 sites, facilities and programs in Pennsylvania that are recognized by the Na-tional Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. These include Zercher’s Hotel, Christiana, the Keystone Corridor between Lancaster and Philadelphia and the ruins of the bridge and canal on the riverfront at Columbia, Lancaster County.
Copyright—Lancaster Chapter—National Railway Historical Society, Christiana, Lancaster County, PA, September 2020 4
By Joshua Shultz
Research & Design
by Randolph J. Harris
Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad—Second to operate in the United States, offered regular passenger and freight service beginning in 1834
F or New York, it was the port of New York City, Pennsylvania had Philadelphia and Maryland had Balti-more. Each state began to seek out ways to reach the west, and more importantly, find the means to engineer and
fund these improvements. The United States government would not help foot the bill because of limited capital and if
one improvement project was chosen, the others would claim the federal government was not being impartial.
What right does the central government have to spend the public tax dollars on a project that might not potentially
benefit us?
D uring the late 1700s and early 1800s the newly-formed United States realized
the drastic need for reliable means of
transportation to the interior of the conti-
nent, and more specifically, inland of the
states along the country’s eastern sea-
board. Each state began to realize their
wealth would directly coincide with the
amount of commerce that travelled across
their lands, to and from their port cities.
From Railroad Maps of North America: The First Hundred Years—1834
By Andrew M. Modelski, Geography and Map Division, Library of Congress, Washington D.C., 1984
Copyright—Lancaster Chapter—National Railway Historical Society, Christiana, Lancaster County, PA, September 2020 5
T hus, the states would be left to fend for themselves for raising the capital. The first to establish a route was New York,
with the Erie Canal in 1825. This 363-mile towpath canal funneled vast amounts of grains and raw materials from the
Lake Erie region towards New York City, bound for overseas ports, while canal boats laden with finished goods such as
rifles and tools headed to the interior, towards the frontier. Subsequently, the State of Maryland used the Susquehanna
River to its north as its own natural canal to syphon raw materials and goods, starving large areas of Pennsylvania of commerce and
goods. In addition to having the Susquehanna River for the use of commerce, Maryland chartered the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in
1827, making it the first railroad in the United states, and used it as a route to expand westward towards the Ohio River. Pennsylvania
and Philadelphia, was now in a precarious situation. New York’s shipping tonnage began to surge and was on course to establish itself
as the dominant port on the Eastern Seaboard. Maryland was syphoning off Pennsylvania goods by using the Susquehanna River to its
advantage and had the potential to harness western Pennsylvania commerce if the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad continued to expand,
leaving the counties east of the Susquehanna River and south of Reading as the only generators of commerce for Philadelphia. South-
eastern Pennsylvania had been boxed in.
In an attempt to cut off two-pronged competition from Maryland and to compete with New York’s Erie Canal, the Pennsylvania
Legislature decided it needed to create a trans-state route, initially envisioned via canal. Railroads in the 1820s were an unproven tech-
nology and canals already had seen great success.
From Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site, National Park Service, Gallitzin, PA.
The Eastern, Juniata, and Western Divisions, supplemented by the Philadelphia & Columbia and the Allegheny Portage Railroads, constituted the Main Line from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, forerunner of the Pennsylvania Railroad.
Copyright—Lancaster Chapter—National Railway Historical Society, Christiana, Lancaster County, PA, September 2020 6
S tarting in 1827 and ending in 1828, a 10-member survey party, contracted by the Penn-
sylvania Canal Commission, began surveying a canal route westward from the City of
Philadelphia. The team included Major John Wilson (1789-1833), an Engineer Officer
in the War of 1812 and his 15-year-old son, William Hassel Wilson (1811-
1902). Rounding out the team was John Edgar Thomson (1808-1874), who would later become
president of the Pennsylvania Railroad, along with a surveyor, a leveler, a rodman, two chainmen
and two axe men.
T hey moved west through the valleys nearby Philadelphia before turning north and crossed a small stream, The Pine
Creek, at what would become the town of Christiana, just over the boundary between Chester and Lancaster County.
From there the team charted the potential canal path to Mine Ridge, to a place called Gap in the Hills, or the present-
day Village of Gap. When the party had reached Gap, they had realized a canal would be nearly impossible due to
the lack of streams to feed the canal path and that the route was hillier than expected.
Major John Wilson
Illustration from History of the PRR, 1846-1896 by J. Elfreth Watkins, PE, 1896.
Copyright—Lancaster Chapter—National Railway Historical Society, Christiana, Lancaster County, PA, September 2020 7
I n March 1828 the General Assembly realized that a railroad was to be the only practical solution. Thus, the Philadelphia and
Columbia Railroad was born. Major Wilson’s survey team then surveyed a path leading from Columbia east through to Lan-
caster and onward toward Gap. Much of today’s Amtrak route between Lancaster and Philadelphia is exactly the same route
surveyed in 1828. In 1832 engineers and construction crews encountered Pennsylvania’s unforgiving terrain, attempting to
build a rail line as level as possible. Track roadbed and sturdy infrastructure such as the Pine Creek Bridge began to emerge from the
countryside. The line was completed steadily by the labor of skilled stonemasons, hewing stone from local quarries that dotted the
landscape near the railroad right of way. The line was built by a variety of contractors, each bidding for single mile increments of
the railroad line.
From a sketch by Major John Wilson, illustration from
History of the PRR, 1846-1896 by J. Elfreth Watkins, PE, 1896.
Copyright—Lancaster Chapter—National Railway Historical Society, Christiana, Lancaster County, PA, September 2020 8
T he Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad was to be a link in a much larger system of canals, railroads and incline planes span-
ning the state from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. Passengers and cargo would embark on a train in Philadelphia and arrive some
eight hours later in Columbia, Lancaster County, on the east bank of the wide and shallow Susquehanna River. From there
people and freight would be loaded onto canal boats and travel north alongside the Susquehanna River to Harrisburg, then
slightly to the north of the state capitol,
cross the river on a massive wooden cov-
ered bridge. Boats would then travel on
a towpath canal fed by the Juniata River
and on to Hollidaysburg, Blair Coun-
ty. At Hollidaysburg passengers and
cargo would be loaded back on to rail-
cars to be hauled up incline planes and
across the Alleghenies via the Alleghe-
ny Portage Railroad, before loading
back onto canal boats at Johnstown to
terminate in Pittsburgh. This interlock-
ing system was called The Main Line of
Public Works and it was put into rou-
tine operations across the state in the
summer and fall of 1834. With this
complex system, it became possible to
travel the expanse of Pennsylvania –
from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh in 3 ½
to 4 days. Before this system was in
place, this trek by wagon or horseback
could take 23 days.
Pennsylvania state legislature authorizes construction of railroads, incline planes
and canals in 1826 to create what became the Main Line of Public Works. This sys-
tem opened to passenger and freight traffic between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh
by 1834.
Pennsylvania’s Main Line of Public Works
Maps and references here from Visitor Center, Allegheny Portage Railroad
National Historic Site, National Park Service, Gallitzin, PA.
Copyright—Lancaster Chapter—National Railway Historical Society, Christiana, Lancaster County, PA, September 2020 9
D uring the time between completion of the initial land survey and the construction of the Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad,
entrepreneurs were eagerly buying property and building various kinds of private businesses next to the proposed railroad
line for strategic shipping purposes. One such entrepreneur was William Noble. Mr. Noble (1779-1850) decided to build a
foundry and blacksmith shop in Christiana next to the railroad line. He had the vision to not only use this revolutionary
transportation infrastructure to ship his goods but also to use the railroad’s stone arch bridge over Pine Creek for an ingenious purpose. He
would use the berm of the stone arch bridge and the bridge itself to construct a dam on the upstream side of this expertly-constructed span
and engage its water flow to power his shop.
Christiana in 1846— View west from above Chester County. Pine Creek is dammed, foreground. Water diverted into small build-
ing on the downstream, or left side of the railroad tracks and the stone arch bridge. Above stream, Noble House (right) and
Machine Shop (left) on both sides of the tracks. From A History of Lancaster County, Ellis and Evans, 1883.
Copyright—Lancaster Chapter—National Railway Historical Society, Christiana, Lancaster County, PA, September 2020 10
T here are few recorded details of this interesting physical relationship between this private enterprise and the publicly-funded and
operated railroad. But the extent of its pool to power the machine shop can be seen in the period illustration shown on this mark-
er. In 1834 a single track between Columbia and Philadelphia was completed. On April 16, 1834, canal commissioners, state leg-
islators and other guests rode on passenger cars behind the locomotive “Black Hawk,” departing from Lancaster at 8 AM. The
entourage crossed the Pine Creek Bridge before arriving at the Belmont Plane in Philadelphia at 4:30 that afternoon. On October 7 of that
same year a second parallel track was completed and opened by Governor George Wolf (1777-1840). Traveling from Columbia to the east,
the grand opening of the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad included an inaugural train of 17 cars hauled by a locomotive named
“Lancaster” just freshly built at the Baldwin locomotive works in Philadelphia.
“Works of the Christiana Machine Company, 1883.” Now owned and operated by Isaac and E.G. Broomell, the manufactory continues to engage water
power from Pine Creek but the Pennsylvania Railroad line has by now been diverted and no longer passes by the residence and original machine shop.
From A History of Lancaster County, Ellis and Evans, 1883.
Copyright—Lancaster Chapter—National Railway Historical Society, Christiana, Lancaster County, PA, September 2020 11
A fter the opening of the railroad, merchants and the public used the railroad much like a modern turnpike. The user was taxed
by weight and product and by how far they were going to use the line. Many merchants would furnish their own wagons and
crude railroad cars to be used on the line. For the first 10 years of operations, the line was operated with steam engines and
horses. Since this railroad was owned by the Commonwealth, the employees worked for the state, providing a system soaked
in political patronage. And any profits realized after expenses was used to pay off capital project debt.
The system was rife with opportunities for waste and mismanagement, and in some cases, high levels of cor-
ruption. This state-owned and operated enterprise also fostered another illegal activity. This one, however,
had a decidedly humanitarian mission.
T he rail line between Columbia, Lancaster County and the port City of Philadelphia was historical-
ly significant not only as the second railroad in the nation to offer regular passenger and freight
service, but also for its early, direct and secret role as a key link in the national anti-slavery
movement known as The Underground Railroad. Yes. Perhaps in no other location or region in
America was an actual railroad used to transport freedom seekers over long distances on a regular basis. How
was this done? Details of this unique and dangerous activity only came to light in 1870, as many people
across the country celebrated the enactment of the 15th Amendment to the US Constitution which granted
Black men the right to vote. This enfranchisement, according to a Lancaster County historian, gave African
Americans and those who assisted them in their quest for freedom a sense of liberation for their deeply-held
emotions and to share many untold stories of danger and heroism. These feelings and attitudes unleashed a
torrent of declarations and admissions in local newspapers of pride-filled involvement in the courageous and
secretive work of the Underground Railroad Movement. This activity began to occur in this region during the
years following the American Revolution (1775-1783) and continued through until to the period of Emanci-
pation and outbreak of the Civil War (circa 1862). According to Samuel Evans (1823-1908), a newspaper
correspondent in Lancaster, two African-American businessmen from Columbia, William Whipper (1804-
1876), and Stephen Smith (1795(?)-1873) conspired with their associate and neighbor, the noted white Quak-
er Abolitionist, William Wright (c. 1770-1846) to devise an ingenious way to transport freedom seekers from
Whipper and Smith’s lumber mill property using their own railroad freight cars.
Stephen Smith
(1795-1873)
Photograph courtesy,
Charles L. Blockson
African-American
Collection,
Temple University
Libraries
Copyright—Lancaster Chapter—National Railway Historical Society, Christiana, Lancaster County, PA, September 2020 12
Wrightsville, York County (left) and Columbia, Lancaster County
From a detail of the Joshua Scott Map of Lancaster County, 1824.
Courtesy, LancasterHistory.org, Lancaster County’s Historical Society & James Buchanan’s Wheatland.
“The long bridge connecting Wrightsville with Columbia, was the only
safe outlet by which they could successfully escape their pursuers. When
they had crossed this bridge they could look back over its broad silvery
stream on its western shore, and say to the slave power: "Thus far shalt
thou come, and no farther.” William Whipper, letter to William Still, New Brunswick, N.J., December 4, 1871, from Still’s The Underground Railroad, 1872.
William Whipper
From William Still’s
The Underground Railroad,
1872, page 749.
Copyright—Lancaster Chapter—National Railway Historical Society, Christiana, Lancaster County, PA, September 2020 13
T hey built a false wall inside one end of their train cars to create a small space that could give two or three people a place to hide
for an eight-hour journey east some 80 miles to Philadelphia. Whipper and Smith owned between 10-20 railcars. As noted here
earlier, it is important to understand that this rail portion of the Main Line was operated by state-hired engineers and conductors,
using state-owned steam engines and coal cars; private businesses owned the railcars – for freight or passengers -- and paid a fee
to the state to attach their vehicles to the steam engines. According to Evans, a credible source as a Civil War veteran, a magistrate in Colum-
bia, PA, and the co-author of The History of Lancaster County (1883), this secret system started in 1838, just four years after the Philadelphia
& Columbia Railroad began regular runs between the two communities at either end of the line.
S mith, Whipper and Wright were essentially compelled to create this system because of the large volume of formerly enslaved peo-
ple coming to Columbia. The newcomers were told there would be support and shelter in the community of free Africans and
white Abolitionists to protect against the ever-present threat of bounty hunters tracking those who fled bondage in the Southern
states, just 20-plus miles from Columbia. This system lasted about 20 years and no one is known to have been arrested or stopped.
William Whipper gave details of his involvement in these affairs in his 1871 letter that his friend and fellow Underground Railroad activist,
William Still (1821-1902) of the Philadelphia Vigilance Committee included in his seminal book, The Underground Railroad, 1872. In 2010,
based on research referenced here, the National Park Service designated the existing railroad corridor between Lancaster and Philadelphia –
today’s Keystone Corridor – as a linear “Site” in the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, the nation’s official roster of
properties and places with an authentic connection to the nation’s first civil rights movement.
Railroad equipment from the first decade of operations of the Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad: Baldwin Works Steam Engine “Lancaster,”
coal tender, passenger car and a freight car or box car of the size and style that would have been owned by Whipper & Smith.
Composite by Randolph Harris of illustrations from History of the PRR, 1846-1896 by J. Elfreth Watkins, PE, 1896.
Copyright—Lancaster Chapter—National Railway Historical Society, Christiana, Lancaster County, PA, September 2020 14
Shows the Columbia to Christiana UGRR route that generally traces the original Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad
corridor. These depicted pathways were adapted from Wilbur Seibert’s 1898 map, based on Smedley’s accounts,
and from Spotts’ Pilgrims Pathways, 1963.
Map and Guide produced by Lancaster
County Heritage – 1st edition 1999.
2nd Edition 2001, Lancaster County
Heritage—A partnership between the
County of Lancaster, the Historic
Preservation Trust of Lancaster
County, and Discover Lancaster, for-
merly known as PA Dutch Convention
& Visitors Bureau
Copyright—Lancaster Chapter—National Railway Historical Society, Christiana, Lancaster County, PA, September 2020 15
I n 1846 the Pennsylvania Railroad was chartered in response to pleas from Philadelphia Merchants who criticized the severely mis-
managed Main Line of Public Works. The new railroad would be built initially between Harrisburg and Johnstown. The Main Line
of Public Works had ruined Pennsylvania’s credit and the state was massively in debt at the cost of the taxpayer. By 1857 the state’s
finances were further weakened after it gambled on a building competition with the PRR to find the fastest route across the Alleghe-
nies. The state took on building the Mule Shoe Curve, a route eliminating the need for the inclined planes over the highest part of the Alle-
ghenies, while the PRR had already built the Horseshoe Curve.
T his costly and wasteful construction “war” sealed the fate of the Main Line of Public Works. That year the Pennsylvania Rail-
road acquired the Main Line, which gave the private company coveted rail access to Philadelphia. The PRR had to quickly re-
build most of the railroad line between Lancaster and Philadelphia which included the Pine Creek Bridge. By 1860 the rail-
road had realigned its tracks through Christiana to its modern-day alignment, thus removing the bridge from service. But the
stone arch remained as the key component of the dam for Noble’s Foundry until the shop converted from water power.
This historic arch has sat untouched, except by nature,
growing around and on what was one of the earliest
bridges in American railroading history and as an ele-
ment of support – a witness - to a humanitarian
cause.
Pine Creek Stone Arch Bridge, early 2020, view north, upstream, before clearance of most
trees and brush, summer, 2020. Photograph by Randolph Harris
Copyright—Lancaster Chapter—National Railway Historical Society, Christiana, Lancaster County, PA, September 2020 16
Epilog
T he stone arch bridge owes its existence to the Charles Bond Company, a manufacturing enterprise founded in Philadelphia and which acquired the Christiana Machine Co. in the early 20th century. Some of the buildings from the era of William Nobel’s early operations are
extant, including his home and office. The Charles Bond Co. in Christiana is the oldest continuously operating machine shop and manufac-
tory in Lancaster County. In 1998, this property was determined by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission to be individually
eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
T he former home and office also is recognized as a Site in the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. It is the only remain-ing building with a direct connection to the Resistance at Christiana on September 11, 1851. In the aftermath of the violent clash between
Maryland slaveowner Edward Gorsuch, his son and law enforcement personnel and the African American farmer and former slave William
Parker and his supporters, Gorsuch’s body was brought to Zercher’s for a coroner’s examination at transport back to his home. This building
was also used to detain prisoners arrested on treason charges by a contingent of US Marines in the days following The Resistance.
H ere, US Congressman Thaddeus Stevens, as one of three attorneys who agreed to represent the 38 accused, interviewed the prisoners before they were transported to prison in Philadelphia pending their trial in Independence Hall in December, 1851. Eventually, all charged
were acquitted, prompting widespread protests in Southern States. This lack of penalties for the accused is seen as a major event that weak-
ened the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 and a flash point that led ultimately to the Civil War.
A portion of the home and office building now houses the Christiana Underground Railroad Visitor Center, which in the mid to late 19th century housed the town’s train station, post office, hotel and a dry goods store. The Charles Bond Company has maintained the bridge and
nearby grounds in recent years, clearly brush and permitting nearby access for viewing. So far as documentation exists, the stone arch is one
of just two known remaining original bridges along the old Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad right of way. The other, in more distressed
condition, is located on the east side of the city of Lancaster near McCaskey High School, known as the Hardwicke Run Culvert, bearing its
name from a nearby mansion and farm whose owners included David Longenecker, and the Cassatt family.
Copyright—Lancaster Chapter—National Railway Historical Society, Christiana, Lancaster County, PA, September 2020 17
S uggested readings and other background:
Baer, Christopher T., Pennsylvania Railroad Chronology. A General Chronology of the Pennsylvania Railroad Compa-
ny - predecessors and successors in its historical context. A work in progress document. Pennsylvania Technical and
Historical Society, 2004-2013.
Last modified: Sunday, January 20, 2013. http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR_hagley_intro.htm. Accessed July 13, 2014
by Randolph Harris.
Blockson, Charles L., Hippocrene Guide to the Underground Railroad. New York: Hippocrene, 1984.
Bordewich, Bound For Canaan - The Underground Railroad and the War for the Soul of America, New York, N.Y., Amistad, Imprint of
Harper Collin, 2005.
Bridgens, H.F., Bridgens Atlas of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania From Actual Surveys by H. F. Bridgens and Assistant. D.S. Bare, Lancas-
ter County, 1864. 43 plates. 16 1/4 x 16. PSA#913, L3037.
Delany, Martin R., “Black Columbia,” The North Star, Rochester, NY, December 15, 1848, page 1.
Harris, Alexander, A Biographical History of Lancaster County [Pennsylvania]: Being a History of Early
Settlers and Eminent Men of the County; Lancaster, PA: E. Barr & Co., 1872.
Harris, Randolph J., Zercher’s Hotel – A.K.A. Noble-Denny House, Christiana Machine Co. – An application to the National Park Service/
US Department of the Interior, which resulted in the designation of the Noble-era home and office as a Site in the National Underground Rail-
road Network to Freedom, Lancaster, PA, 2003.
Harris, Randolph J., – Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad Right of Way: Philadelphia to Lancaster, through the counties of Lancaster,
Chester, Delaware, Montgomery & Philadelphia – An application to the National Park Service/US Department of the Interior, which resulted
in the designation of the 80-mile long railroad section of The Keystone Corridor as a Site in the National Underground Railroad Network to
Freedom, Lancaster, PA, 2010.
Copyright—Lancaster Chapter—National Railway Historical Society, Christiana, Lancaster County, PA, September 2020 18
Reading, bibliography, cont.
Harris, Randolph J., – Remains of the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge and Pennsylvania Canal at Columbia, Lancaster County, PA. – An
application to the National Park Service/US Department of the Interior, which resulted in the designation of the extant piers and abutment of
the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge, and nearby ruins of locks of the Pennsylvania Canal along the Susquehanna River as tangible remains of
the early inter-related transportation network that became a well-known hub of Underground Railroad activity. These riverside ruins were
collectively regarded as a Site in the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, Lancaster, PA, 2014.
Harris, Randolph J. and Hopkins, Leroy T., Jr. PhD. The Underground Railroad in Lancaster County, PA, a teacher’s guide, published by
The Amish Experience, Bird-In-Hand, PA, 2016.
Hopkins, Dr. Leroy T., "Bethel African Methodist Church: Prolegomenon to a Social History, " Journal of the Lancaster Historical Socie-
ty, Vol. 90, 1986.
McCullough, Robert and Walter Leuba, The Pennsylvania Main Line Canal. York, PA: American Canal Center, 1973. Modelski, Andrew
M., Railroad Maps of North America-The First Hundred Years, Washington D.C.: Geography and Map Division, Library of Congress,
1984.
Morse, Rollin D., Columbia Historic District, nomination document, 1982, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places,
Washington, D.C.
Online Encyclopedia: Stephen Smith (c. 1795–1873) - Entrepreneur, abolitionist – A chronology:
http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/4465/Smith-Stephen-c-1795-1873.html">Smith, Stephen
Pennsylvania Canal (Railroad) - A Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission marker, found at
http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=676, accessed December 12, 2009.
Pennsylvania State Archives, Harrisburg, PA. Manuscript Group 47: SAMUEL EVANS COLLECTION 1752-1891. http://
www.phmc.state.pa.us/BAH/dam/mg/mg47.htm, accessed 12-20-09.
Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad – A Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission marker, found at
http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=651, accessed December 12, 2009.
Copyright—Lancaster Chapter—National Railway Historical Society, Christiana, Lancaster County, PA, September 2020 19
Reading, bibliography, cont.
Pinsker, Matthew, Vigilance in Pennsylvania: Underground Railroad Activities in the Keystone State, 1837-186; Underground Railroad
Context Study, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 2000.
Rupp, I. Daniel, History of Lancaster County, Lancaster, PA, 1844.
Smedley, Robert C., MD, History of the Underground Railroad in Chester and the Neighboring Counties of Pennsylvania, Lancaster, PA.:
Office of the Journal, 1883.
Spotts, Charles D. The Pilgrim's Pathway: The Underground Railroad in Lancaster County (Lancaster: Franklin & Marshall College
Library), 1966
Still, William, The Underground Rail Road. A record of facts, authentic narratives, letters, &c., narrating the hardships, hair-breadth es-
capes, and death struggles of the slaves in their efforts for freedom, as related by themselves and others, or witnessed by the author; to-
gether with sketches of some of the largest stockholders, and most liberal aiders and advisers, of the road. Philadelphia, PA (1872).
“THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD,” The San Francisco Call, San Francisco, CA. Volume 68, Number 22. 22 June 1890.
Watkins, J. Elfreth, PE. History of the Pennsylvania RR, 1846-1896. Manuscript prepared for the Pennsylvania Railroad, 1896 [Photocopy on
file at The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, Strasburg, Lancaster County, PA].
Wilson, William Bender, History of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, with Plan of Organization, Portraits of Officials and Biographical
Sketches. Illustrated in Two Volumes. Philadelphia, PA: Henry T. Choates and Company, 1895.
Wilson, William Hasell, The Columbia-Philadelphia Railroad and its Successor, York, PA: American Canal and Transportation Center,
1985.
-Marker Report CoverRev. Background Report - Main