8. Friendship Hill National Historic Site, Pennsylvania

               Hello!  Welcome back to our blog on National Park Service Units.  In this post, we’ll be examining Friendship Hill National Historic Site located in southwest Pennsylvania not far from our last unit Fort Necessity National Battlefield.  Friendship Hill was the country estate of Albert Gallatin, an early American statesman best remembered for his tenure as Secretary of the Treasury.

 

Entrance Sign

BACKGROUND:

               In 1780, a young man from Switzerland named Albert Gallatin emigrated to the United States hoping to find success in the newly independent nation.  He settled in western Pennsylvania, then still rugged and barely tamed frontier, working as a surveyor, before gaining an interest in land speculation.  After amassing wealth, Gallatin bought a large farm in 1789 overlooking the Monongahela river in southwest Pennsylvania for himself and his new bride Sophia, who died only months later.  He soon became a well-known member of the local community and entered into politics, first becoming a delegate to the Pennsylvania state constitutional convention, then as a member of the state Assembly.  His political stock continued to rise as he was elected to the House of Representatives, and chosen in 1801 by President Thomas Jefferson to be Secretary of the Treasury.  Gallatin would serve in this capacity for the next fourteen years, being retained as head of the Treasury Department by Jefferson’s successor James Madison.  During his tenure, Gallatin would be instrumental in securing financing for some of the nation’s most momentous projects, including the Louisiana Purchase and the National Road.  In 1814, he would serve on the delegation that negotiated the Treaty of Ghent which brought an end to the War of 1812.  He would later serve as minister (ambassador) to both France and Britain, helped established New York University, founded the American Ethnological Society, and was President of the National Bank of New York.

Statue of Albert Gallatin in front of the Department of the Treasury building in the District of Columbia

While his career path trended ever higher, Gallatin continued as best he could to maintain his Pennsylvania farm which he had purchased in 1789.  Naming it Friendship Hill, Gallatin would continue to expand the property from the original brick house he had built for himself and his first wife into a gradually larger country estate.  However, Gallatin’s second wife, Hannah, a New York city native, did not share his passion for rural life.  Caught between his wife’s personal wishes and his governmental duties, Gallatin would see less and less of his Pennsylvania estate, finally selling off the property in 1832.  The house passed through a series of private owners, and was nearly destroyed by arson before being acquired by the National Park Service in 1978.

 

Albert Gallatin's Friendship Hill

THE SITE:

               Friendship Hill is located in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, in the state’s southwest corner only a few miles from the West Virginia border and a little over an hour south of Pittsburgh.  The current site is almost double the size of Gallatin’s original land holdings as subsequent owners added land to the property.  Most of the property functions as a normal park with many miles of trails.  The main attraction though is the Gallatin House.

The estate grounds as seen from the mansion

              A roadway leads from the park entrance across a large meadow to a parking lot at the base of the hill atop which the house is perched.  A small picnic area and restrooms are located next to the parking lot.  A paved path winds up the hill from the parking lot to the house, where the visitor center is located within the mansion.  The visitor center is located on the ground floor in a later addition to the house.  It contains several artifacts from the Gallatin family on display and has two short films.  The house itself has been mostly restored to its original appearance, however some areas are explicitly left unrestored so that visitors may see the how the house was first built.  The majority of the house however is sparsely furnished, with only a handful of rooms containing furniture.

               A short walk downhill from the mansion into a wooded area overlooking the Monongahela river, visitors will also find a stone rectangle, the site of the grave of Gallatin’s first wife Sophia.

 

The grave of Sophia Gallatin

TRAVEL TIPS:

               Friendship Hill National Historic Site is open year-round, however winter hours can fluctuate so it is recommended to visit in the summer.  The Gallatin mansion can be viewed on a self-guided tour, and the grounds also have a cell phone tour.  Passport stamps can be found in the visitor center area of the mansion.  The site is handicapped accessible and there is no entrance fee.  It is also in close proximity to Fort Necessity National Battlefield and both sites can be easily viewed within a single day.
We hope you enjoyed this summary of Friendship Hill National Historic Site.  Our next post will be part of our celebration of Independence Day as we will be visiting Massachusetts and the events that began the American War of Independence at Minute Man National Historic Park.

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:

A statue of Gallatin as a surveyor on the path from the parking lot to the mansion

The view of the Monongahela river from the estate's overlook

The mansion's parlor, where Gallatin entertained the Marquis de Lafayette (seen in the portrait) during a visit in 1825



Artifacts in the visitor center including Gallatin's signet ring (at lower left)

A second view of the Gallatin mansion

The stone kitchen at Friendship Hill.  Fire damage to the original structure can be seen in some places on the chimney