Blog of the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office

Tag: Poquessing Trail of History

Byberry Hall: Robert Purvis’ Legacy

September is International Underground Railroad Month and this week’s post features the story of Robert Purvis and Byberry Hall.

In 1844, Robert Purvis, a prominent Black abolitionist and leading figure in the Underground Railroad in Philadelphia, moved with his wife Harriet and their children to Byberry, a rural village in the far northern part of Philadelphia County.

For the next 27 years, they helped make Byberry a center of abolition and Underground Railroad activity. In 1847, Robert and two others built Byberry Hall as a meeting place for discussion of anti-slavery and other social issues. The building is now a key site on the Poquessing Trail of History.

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