Philadelphia · US

Underground Railroad Museum

Tucked into Philadelphia's Fairmount Park along the Schuylkill River, the Underground Railroad Museum at Belmont Mansion tells a layered story of revolution and emancipation within one of Pennsylvania's earliest Palladian estates. Built in 1745, the mansion hosted Founding Fathers like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, but its deeper legacy lies in its role as a safehouse for enslaved people seeking freedom. The museum, operating since 2007, brings to life the network of people and places that comprised Philadelphia's Underground Railroad, anchored by the remarkable story of Judge Richard Peters' abolitionism and the formerly enslaved Cornelia Wells, who used her hard-won freedom to help others escape bondage.