The 2021 season of African American Heritage Walking Tours in downtown Lancaster city will begin on Saturday, June 5, sponsored by the African American Historical Society of South Central Pennsylvania. Additional tour dates are Saturdays, July 10, Aug. 7, Sept. 4, Oct. 2 and Nov. 6.

Tour guides will lead guests to 12 historic sites, including four with connections to the Underground Railroad. Attendees will learn about the lives and times of abolitionists, Underground Railroad agents, religious leaders and black entrepreneurs.

Tours will depart from Lancaster City Visitor Center, 38 Penn Square, Lancaster, at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. and will last approximately two hours. No reservations are necessary, but interested individuals are asked to arrive 15 minutes before departure times.

Separate fees have been set for adults under 62, for seniors age 62 and up and for students ages 6 to 18. Children under age 6 may attend for free. Tour proceeds will fund programs and expenses of the African American Historical Society of South Central Pennsylvania.

This tour series began in 2016 and is a collaborative effort with the City of Lancaster Office of Promotion and is operated in partnership with Historic Lancaster Walking Tour, which has been conducting history tours of downtown Lancaster since 1976. Other community groups in partnership are LancasterHistory, Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society and Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology.

For a tour preview, visit http://www.aahsscpa.org/walking-tours.