Just off Route 30 in Wrightsville, 87 acres of land hold hundreds of years of history. Now, thanks to the efforts of the Susquehanna National Heritage Area (SNHA), that history will come back to life.

Work is underway to transform the Mifflin farm into the multi-million-dollar Susquehanna Discovery Center & Heritage Park, a destination designed to tell the nationally important stories of York and Lancaster counties.

Recently, the site at 202 Cool Springs Road was added to the National Park Service's National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom program.

Pete Miele, senior project leader, explained that the first white settlers on the land were Jonathan and Susanna Mifflin, who were Quakers. In the early part of the 19th century, the couple played an important role in the Underground Railroad.

"Pretty quickly after they move here, they begin to shelter freedom seekers who are escaping slavery," Miele said, noting that the Mifflins helped guide people to freedom up until the early 1840s. "This is really early Underground Railroad activity. The term 'Underground Railroad' didn't really even come into being until the 1840s. If you said, 'Underground Railroad' to Jonathan and Susanna Mifflin, they wouldn't have known what you were talking about."

The farm also played an important role in the Civil War. On June 28, 1863, Confederate Gen. John B. Gordon ordered artillery to the front yard of the home. The soldiers soon encountered Union troops stationed near the Susquehanna River, who retreated to the Lancaster County side before famously burning the bridge to halt the Confederates' advance.

Determined to promote the history and heritage, Miele is enthusiastically overseeing the project that will take a decade to complete.

It's a plan that almost ended before it even began, he noted. Locations around the farm were slowly filling up with warehouses, and what started as a grassroots effort to save the farm from development soon turned into a full-fledged project to protect the property.

In 2017, SNHA, along with partners Preservation Pennsylvania and The Conservation Fund (TCF), began working together to preserve the site for future generations. In April 2022, TCF purchased the 87 acres, and in 2023, it transferred the grounds to SNHA for development into the Susquehanna Discovery Center & Heritage Park.

"We are just finishing up our master plan now - architecture, interpretation, site development, operations - to really give us a blueprint to see what will be here over the next 10 years," Miele said.

A barn that dates to 1850 will house a visitor's center, with history and culture exhibits celebrating heritage stories, lecture space and room for community gatherings. An addition will be built on the farmland to house a Susquehanna River art museum, featuring the work and collection of local artist Rob Evans, who has gathered Susquehanna River art dating back to the 1600s.

"History, culture and art will be at this site, and then all around us are going to be walking paths and trails," Miele said, noting that one of the trails will lead to the river, tracing the path freedom seekers took when they left the farmhouse to board a ferry to Lancaster County.

Eventually, the farmhouse will be transformed into an interactive multimedia experience, providing even more opportunities to learn about local history. A portion of the property has also been set aside for future development as a complementing restaurant and/or hotel.

While completion of the project is a long way off, the site will open in stages, with a priority placed on getting people on the grounds.

The site opened Memorial Day weekend and will be open to the public on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. through October, Miele said.

"Once a month, from June through September, we're going to have a speaker every third Thursday," he commented. "They will be presenting from the porch of the house. People can bring chairs and sit out here and enjoy the program."

With an estimated price tag of $45 million for the project, SNHA has applied for grants and has received donations to cover some of the costs.

The organization will hold the Summer Soiree fundraiser on Friday, June 20, from 5 to 9 p.m. at the site.

"We'll have big tents set up outside, and the doors will be open to the barn, where we'll have interpretative panels with artist concepts and drawings of the project," said Bill Wright, director of community giving for SNHA. "In the corn crib outside the barn, we're going to have a silent auction."

Auction items will feature a variety of experiences, such as canoe trips and a special behind-the-scenes tour of the Hellam Preserve. The event will also feature a dinner buffet and tethered hot-air balloon rides sponsored by Ephrata National Bank.

With funds already committed from grants and donations, renovations can begin on the farmhouse soon, and improvements such as handicapped-accessible parking and public-access walkways have been completed.

To purchase tickets for the Summer Soiree, visit https://bit.ly/4mrTVLe.

To learn more about SNHA and the Mifflin farm project, visit https://susqnha.org/explore-2/visit-sdc.