hitchcock house

I'm sure this stop is far off the beaten path for most travelers. For those looking for not-often-told true history of America prior to the Civil War, this is a very special place. Even though the Hitchcock House was built in 1856, it was not designated as a NPS historic site until 2001. In 2006, it was designated a National Historic Landmark. This was a farm residence, but in the 1960s it was abandoned. As a vacant building it was vandalized and becoming very deteriorated. It has been lovingly restored and refurnished with period pieces, some donated from the descendants of the Hitchcock family. There are over 70 acres remaining here of the original farmland and the view from the house is beautiful. The original 20" thick brown sandstone for the 2 story home was quarried locally. Walnut and oak for the home was also milled locally. This is a masterpiece of construction and handwork. Your tour cost is only $5 by very informative guides. You also are allowed to enter the basement and see where and how escaped slaves were hidden. This is an awesome out of the way place to visit.

Visited this site in August 2013. The house itself is interesting because of the rock construction. The site underneath that was reportedly used to hide escaping slaves is not authentic, and because it is a National Historic Site, it cannot be restored because they are not sure exactly what it looked like originally. But you can see the foundation walls and what was obviously at one time a false wall, and it is still interesting. The house sits on a rise and is surrounded by farm land, and is a beautiful site to visit and makes for a nice drive in the country. We enjoyed it and found the volunteer who showed us around to be helpful and knowledgeable.

The Hitchcock House is a good example of an intact Underground Railroad site in Iowa. It has been designated as a National Historic Landmark. The tour guide was knowledgeable and could answer most of our questions. The interior was not impressive but the sandstone rock exterior was very pretty and interesting. There was nothing special about the secret place where escaping slaves hid. I expected to see something more than an nearly empty room.