Kaufman's Station at the Village of Boiling Springs

On October 18, 2007, the Cumberland County Historical Society received notification from the National Park Service that the application for Kaufman's Station at the Village of Boiling Springs had been evaluated and was officially named a site on the Park Service's National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. The review board found that it made a significant contribution to the understanding of the Underground Railroad in American history and that it met the requirements for inclusion as an official Network site. As a result, the village may use the Network to Freedom logo, such as on plaques or publications. Kaufman's Station will be included on the Network's website and can be used as a resource by students and scholars. Tourists can use the website to find Underground Railroad sites they may want to visit. The Boiling Springs Civic Association is planning both guided and self-guided walking tours of Kaufman's Station for visitors to the area.

The following article was abstracted from the nomination form that was written and prepared in 2006-2007 by Richard Tritt, local historian and Photo Curator at Cumberland County Historical Society. A major part of the nomination procedure asks the application preparer to "Describe the site's association and significance to the Underground Railroad. Provide citations. Supplemental chronologies are encouraged."

Nomination Narrative

The historic village of Boiling Springs was the site of an Underground Railroad "station" operated by an area resident named Daniel Kaufman. He became an agent in 1835 at the young age of 17 and was assisted by several relatives and residents of the village. An ironworks was located at Boiling Springs and freedom seekers also received help from some of its employees, many of whom were African-American. Kaufman's Underground Railroad activities came to a halt in 1848 after he was sued by a Maryland slave owner for assisting thirteen slaves who were last traced to his home. The suit resulted in three court cases over four years at the local, state, and federal levels. In federal court Kaufman was found guilty and paid fines and expenses amounting to approximately $5,000. When he died in 1902 he was one of the last surviving former agents of the Underground Railroad.

The earliest known reference to the name "Boiling Springs" was in a 1737 Blunston License for the building of a mill on the Yellow Breeches Creek.  By 1762 the Carlisle Iron Works was established at the site, the first industrial development in Cumberland County. Carlisle was the closest settlement, about four miles north of the works. Many of the laborers were Negro slaves, as well as freed slaves, and indentured servants. In the early 1800s two German families purchased land and established farms on what is today the village of Boiling Springs. These families, the Kaufmans and the Brechbills, had offspring who would later become involved in the village's Underground Railroad activities.

When Kaufman agreed to be an agent around 1835, a station was needed between Shippensburg and Harrisburg, since this distance was too long for escaping slaves to cover in one day. Boiling Springs became part of several routes that led from Maryland to Harrisburg. From Shippensburg to Boiling Springs, one route was along the south side of the Cumberland Valley since that area was less densely populated. In the South Mountain area there were also a number of ironworks, including the one at Pine Grove. Since the ironworks employed a number of black workers and there were several small black settlements, this was a likely area for freedom-seekers to find help. In Boiling Springs, the Kaufman farm was on the edge of town, near the ironworks and along the millrace. Freedom seekers were hidden in his barn or in a densely wooded area across the millrace known as Island Grove. Boiling Springs was an ideal site for a station because it was close to the mountain and in a fairly remote area.

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