The Willis House is an historic, American home that is located in Manchester Township,

York County, Pennsylvania York County ( Pennsylvania Dutch: Yarrick Kaundi) is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 456,438. Its county seat is York. The county was created on August 19, 1749, from part of Lancaster ...

. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1979.

History and architectural features

The builder of this historic residence, William Willis (1726–1801), was a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

who received 480 acres from

Thomas Penn Thomas Penn (8 March 1702 – 21 March 1775) was an English landowner and mercer who was the chief proprietor of Pennsylvania from 1746 to 1775. Penn is best known for his involvement in negotiating the Walking Purchase, a contested land cessi ...

and Richard Penn Sr. in 1752. His grandfather, John Willis, was born in 1668 in Great Britain. In 1675, the family migrated to Westbury, Long Island, New York. His son, Samuel Willis (1778–1848), is frequently mentioned in local histories as "kindly Friend Willis," and was a major figure in the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...

. Built in 1762, this historic structure is a -story, banked brick dwelling with a partly exposed basement. It measures long by wide and has a steeply pitched gable roof. The interior is laid out in a variation of a

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

center hall plan. ''Note:'' This includes It was added to the

in 1979.

References

External links

Historic York websiteWillis House, 190 Willis Road, York, York County, PA
4 photos, 6 data pages, and 1 photo caption page at

Historic American Buildings Survey Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

{{National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Historic American Buildings Survey in Pennsylvania Houses completed in 1762 Houses in York County, Pennsylvania Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in York County, Pennsylvania

History and architectural features

See also

References

External links