Southern Lancaster County Historical Society, Inc.
Name
The Southern Lancaster County Historical Society is locally known as the “Solanco Historical Society,” which is an abbreviated form of Southern Lancaster County: So-Lan-Co. The Society's office and meeting place is within the archives warehouse building, shown here.
Archives Warehouse Building
Boundaries
The
Solanco Historical Society is located in south-central Pennsylvania, south of the City of
Lancaster along State Route 222 and reaches to the state’s border with Maryland at the
Mason-Dixon line. According to the Society’s bylaws, the coverage area encompasses
the municipalities of the Borough of Quarryville and the Townships of Bart,
Colerain, Drumore, East Drumore, Eden, Fulton, Little Britain, Providence and Sadsbury.
In addition to articles, documents and photographs relating to people, events,
businesses and railroads in these municipalities, the Society has photographs
and information on some of the surrounding townships.
Origins
The
Solanco Historical Society was formed in 1970 and was born
out of an effort to write a book documenting the histories of the churches of
southern Lancaster County in the late 1960s. Meetings were originally held in
members’ homes and items that belonged to the Society were stored wherever
space could be found. In December 1977, documents were filed with the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania to incorporate the Society as a nonprofit educational organization.
That was followed by filing as a federal 501(c)(3) corporation.
Society members began collecting photographs, documents and information
relating to local history. Birth, marriage and death records were compiled. A
library of books that relate to the history of the area was begun. Local
citizens donated old utensils, railroad items, Native American relics and a
variety of tools to form a collection of historical artifacts.
Internet Site
The Solanco Historical Society’s website is located at www.southernlancasterhistory.org. Further research about the area can be conducted at: www.lancasterhistory.org (Lancaster County
Historical Society) and at the Conestoga Area Historical Society
(pennmanorhistory.org and rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pacahs).
Purchase and
Management
of the
Robert Fulton Birthplace Property
Birthplace History
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania purchased the Robert Fulton Birthplace in August, 1965 and restored the house to how it was believed to have looked at the time of Robert
Fulton’s birth in 1765. The architects had scant accurate documentation to work
from but did their best with the restoration. The additions and porches added
in the years after Robert Fulton lived there were torn down. The log section at
the rear of the house was rebuilt. Furniture of the Colonial period was collected
and placed to reflect a farming household. A garden was created behind the Fulton
house with historically accurate plantings. A building which includes a garden shed and visitors’
restroom facility was added in a style in keeping with the historic nature of
the site. A small barn was repurposed for storage. Across the street, a wood-sided
granary and a brick warehouse remain, both of which were added after Fulton’s
time but are representative of the continuing use of the property as a farm
until the purchase by the Commonwealth and subsequent purchase by Solanco Historical Society. A
railroad previously ran alongside the warehouse and granary for pickup of farm
produce. Joseph Swift purchased the property in 1772 and several generations of
the family continued to live and farm there until 1965.
Property Management Agreement The
Southern Lancaster County Historical Society, Inc. reached an agreement with the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Bureau of Historic Sites and Museums to manage the Robert Fulton Birthplace property in 1978. The Society applied for and received a grant from the Lancaster County Redevelopment Authority to renovate the warehouse into an archive and meeting hall.
 Heating and plumbing were
installed, the walls were finished and painted, and doors and windows were
repaired and painted. A formal long-term
Management Agreement between the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the Southern Lancaster County Historical Society was signed in May, 1982. Both the Commonwealth and the Society benefited from this agreement. Through the years, members of the Society have volunteered their time as tour guides at the Robert Fulton birthplace and have provided general upkeep of the five buildings and surrounding grounds in exchange for use of the archives warehouse. Fundraising events such as concerts, craft fairs, calendar sales (as seen in the photograph at left of member-artists Doris Hough, Anita Reed and Novelda Ferguson) and holiday greens sales have been held to provide funds for general maintenance. The Commonwealth had contributed funds towards the upkeep on a regular basis until the recession of 2008. Since then occasional grants have provided funds for major repairs such as slate roof reconstruction.
 From 1982 until 2017, members of the Southern Lancaster County Historical Society, under the Management Agreement with the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, had provided routine maintenance of the Birthplace and guided tours for the public. In exchange for these services, the Society maintained its archives, office and meeting place at the warehouse across the road from the Robert Fulton Birthplace on Robert Fulton Highway (Route 222).
From 1982 until 2017, members of the Southern Lancaster County Historical Society, under the Management Agreement with the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, had provided routine maintenance of the Birthplace and guided tours for the public. In exchange for these services, the Society maintained its archives, office and meeting place at the warehouse across the road from the Robert Fulton Birthplace on Robert Fulton Highway (Route 222).
From 1982 until 2017, members of the Southern Lancaster County Historical Society, under the Management Agreement with the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, had provided routine maintenance of the Birthplace and guided tours for the public. In exchange for these services, the Society maintained its archives, office and meeting place at the warehouse across the road from the Robert Fulton Birthplace on Robert Fulton Highway (Route 222). Arborists trimming a large sycamore tree to protect the Robert Fulton Birthplace
Change of Birthplace Ownership
Because of its many years of successful management of the Birthplace property, in February 2017 the Deed was transferred from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's ownership to the Solanco Historical Society, however several restrictive covenants were included to ensure the preservation and upkeep of the five buildings on the property and the continuation of public access. The buildings include the Birthplace, the archive warehouse, a granary, a small barn and storage building, and a newer outbuilding divided for public restrooms and garden supplies storage. The Society now has full financial and maintenance responsibility for the buildings and surrounding property. It receives no funds from the state or federal government.
Kitchen Garden
Soon after the Management Agreement was created, the Society arranged for the Drumore Flower Club to research and create a kitchen garden behind the Birthplace using appropriate Colonial-era plants. Since the flower club disbanded in the late 1990s, a small group of Society members has volunteered their time to maintain the vegetable garden, annuals, perennials and rose varieties that the Fulton family would likely have had during their years at the Birthplace. The garden now has about 100 representative plants identified in the garden. The garden paths were built in 1983 by Boy Scout Bob Landis of Troop 40 as an Eagle Scout project. When the paths needed to be rebuilt in 2011, Brian Phipps of Troop 91 made the project his Eagle Scout task, directing members of his troop.
L, O & S Nature and Rail Trail Past the garden and to the southwest is a sign marking the entrance to a trail that was established along the old railbed of the Lancaster, Oxford & Southern Railroad. The rails were removed in November 1919 but the Society's Board of Directors thought it historically important, since the train ran through the property and a station had been built by the Swift family in 1874 when they occupied the Fulton House. The trail runs through several habitats including woodland, meadow and wetlands and provides views of wildlife and wildflowers. The 1-1/2 mile trail was established for visitors who enjoy the outdoors and was dedicated on November 12, 2016.
Entrance to the L. O. & S. Nature Trail, which lies on the railbed of the Lancaster, Oxford & Southern Railroad
behind the Robert Fulton Birthplace. The 1-1/2 mile trail was established by the Southern Lancaster County Historical Society in November 2016.
Strategic Planning for the Future
Under
the direction of Schools Superintendent Martin Hudacs, a series of Strategic
Planning meetings was held in the winter of 2013 for the purpose of
identifying the Society’s strengths and weaknesses and to form an action plan
for the future. Not only Society members
but assorted members of the community were invited to participate and add their
comments and suggestions. The plan was finalized and the Society’s Board of
Directors accepted the plan in May, 2013. The Society’s officers and committee
members have been taking steps to implement various proposals in the plan. It
is hoped that these actions will keep a focus on our objectives, increase membership,
strengthen our commitment to our mission, and broaden our presence in the
community that we serve.
Acknowledgements
The
Solanco Historical Society is grateful to the following donors for their kind contributions:
§ Pennsylvania Society, Sons of the
American Revolution
for their electronics digitization grant; § Members and individuals for their contributions towards a matching grant to the P.S.S.A.R. grant;
§ Wakefield Lions for their donations towards Internet
access and archives shelving;
§ Past Officers of the Society, who dedicated their time and talents in previous years and gave current officers a solid basis to build upon;
§ Members of the Society, including dedicated Archivists (Stan White, Suzanne Lamborn, Anita Reed, Patricia Mason, Peg Wurst and Miriam Homer), Docents (see list under Directory/Tour Guide Committee) and other Committee Members, for their past and ongoing volunteerism;
§ Stanley T. White for historical research and photographs; George Stiles for additional photographs;
§ Barclay Richards, George Stiles, Marsha Stiles and Wes Epler for electronics and website maintenance; and
§ Anonymous Donor who provided new chairs, parking lot restoration, archives roof repair, automatic defibrillator, and water purifiers.
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