Belmont Mansion is Finding its Place as a Historic Landmark

In 1986, Audrey Johnson Thornton was scrounging the city for a headquarters for her newly-founded American Women’s Heritage Society. After a fruitless search, a friend pointed her towards an abandoned house in Fairmount Park atop Belmont Plateau. Despite the breathtakingly scenic view of the city’s skyline, the building was an eyesore: the roof was collapsing and the walls were covered in mold.

Still, Thornton couldn’t deny the energy radiating from the property, so she decided to take a chance on it.

Shortly after settling in and beginning renovations on the building, Thornton discovered she wasn’t the only one with her eyes on the house. The city, seeing the property’s potential for profit, had the building placed on its shortlist for demolition. Thornton immediately looked into the city archives. The records she uncovered told an unexpected story.

Tourists might visit Old City to tarry around Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell and Old City Hall because of the grade-school-textbook history they’re familiar with. The place of those landmarks in our history is clear. The popular personalities they’re associated with – Washington, Jefferson, Franklin – will always draw a crowd. What about the nonconventional landmarks in Philadelphia whose place in history might be less obvious? Say a building that is older than Independence Hall and yields a more widely-varied history – could it ever rise to the same level of visibility?

The history of Belmont Mansion

Thornton discovered that the property, originally entitled Belmont Stockley, was jointly purchased by Dutch and Swedish settlers in 1678 and formally recognized by William Penn in 1684. The abandoned house that Thornton first stepped foot inside was originally constructed by British lawyer and loyalist William Peters when he took over in 1742. Peters’ son, Judge Richard Peters, became steward of the property in 1776.

It was at Belmont Mansion that Judge Peters, a Revolutionary War officer, hosted secret countryside meetings with the Founding Fathers. George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison all spent time at the mansion developing the blueprint for what would become the United States of America.

Judge Peters, a progressive individual considering the period and the company he kept, was an unabashed abolitionist. Under his stewardship, Belmont Mansion served as one of the first stops on the Underground Railroad. The same railroad stop where runaway slaves would jump out of boxcars to find sanctuary on the property still exists today – half-submerged beneath a runner’s trail in the forestry outside the mansion.

Thornton presented her historical findings to the city, which subsequently dissolved its plans to demolish the mansion. Instead, the city, Pew Charitable Trusts and the William Penn Foundation donated $1.3 million for the restoration of historic Belmont Mansion. That sum of money barely kept the mansion afloat.

“This is a very expensive operation,” Thornton explained. Since she began leasing the property from Parks & Recreation in 1986, she has put over $400,000 of her personal wealth into refurbishing the Mansion with antiques.

There’s no doubt that Belmont Mansion is deeply rooted in American history, but its future is still uncertain.

Most Historic Houses and landmarks in the city offer strong and simple vignettes from Philadelphia’s historical tapestry. Belmont Mansion, on the other hand, is uniquely diverse from a historical perspective.  It traverses time, collecting separate and distinct accounts from century to century – from its founding in the late 17th century, to its place as a meeting ground for the Founding Fathers, and finally as a stop on the Underground Railroad.

New leadership 

After nearly 30 years of tirelessly volunteering as the Mansion’s steward, Thornton is ready to retire. In September, she will be passing the buck to Naomi Nelson, an experienced Underground Railroad historian, art curator and educator who’s been instrumental in getting Belmont Mansion recognition.

“Mrs. Thornton has been a one woman show for a long time,” said Nelson. “In order to reach all our goals, we need multiple Mrs. Thorntons. She’s done the work of a staff of ten people.”

Thornton claimed that the mansion has had both financial and operational support from every mayor over the past 30 years. Nelson credits Councilman Curtis Jones, Jr., whose district is home to the Mansion, as key in getting new construction underway. Overall, Thornton and Johnson seem satisfied with the amount of backing they’ve received from the city. So, what’s holding Belmont Mansion back?

“As with any site, Belmont Mansion needs to market its distinctive and singular features,” said Lucy Strackhouse, executive director of the Fairmount Park Historic Preservation Trust.

Belmont Mansion has a lot on its plate. While it continues to serve as an active Underground Railroad Museum (drawing close to 15,000 tourists a year), the mansion makes most of its money providing a space for weddings – about 40 are held on the property every summer.

Bringing together assets

Four years ago, the American Women’s Heritage Society was allotted $1 million by Governor Ed Rendell to build a conference center on the property. The Cornelia Wells Conference Center, named after the only slave Judge Peters bought (and immediately freed), aims to provide a platform for “dialogue about the issues that have shaped the city we live in,” explained Nelson.

Thornton and Nelson see the center as a long-term investment for establishing the Mansion as a prominent historical landmark, on par with Independence Hall and the President’s House.

“I’d like to think that as we redefine the infrastructure of the organization, if we had more support with marketing and PR and development, we could actually have more engagement [with the historical community],” says Nelson. Nelson also mentioned plans to work with the Fairmount Park Conservancy once Thornton hands her the reins in September.

The importance of preserving Belmont Mansion and its place in the history of Philadelphia is evident. However, in order to truly become the prominent historical landmark that Thornton and Nelson envision it to be, Belmont Mansion has a lot of work to do.

“People come out here and say, ‘we never knew this was here,’” Thornton said. “We should be on the map.”