Fort Hunter Historic District is a national

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains historic building, older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal p ...

located at Fort Hunter,

Dauphin County, Pennsylvania Dauphin County (; Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: Daffin Kaundi) is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the populati ...

. The district includes six contributing buildings, four contributing sites, and one contributing structure. The area has seen continuous settlement since the early 1700s and once was the site of an early supply fort ( Fort Hunter) and garrison. Also in the district are the remains of a section of the Pennsylvania Canal. Notable buildings include the separately listed

Archibald McAllister House Archibald McAllister House, now officially known as Fort Hunter Mansion, is a historic home located on the Susquehanna River approximately 6 miles north of downtown Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. It consists of a 2-story, 2-room ston ...

, a

spring house A spring house, or springhouse, is a small building, usually of a single room, constructed over a spring. While the original purpose of a springhouse was to keep the spring water clean by excluding fallen leaves, animals, etc., the enclosing str ...

, Everhart Covered Bridge, large frame barn (1876),

corn crib A corn crib or corncrib is a type of granary used to dry and store corn. It may also be known as a cornhouse or corn house. Overview After the harvest and while still on the cob, corn is placed in the crib either with or without the husk. The ...

, farm house, blacksmith shop, stone stable barn, Hunter's House or Old Hotel, ice house, and

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...

s for Fort Hunter, the garrison, Hunter's Mill, and the Pennsylvania Canal. ''Note:'' This includes It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1979.

2023 lawsuit

In June 2022 two members of the

Keystone Party of Pennsylvania The Liberal Party of Pennsylvania is a third party in Pennsylvania founded as the Keystone Party of Pennsylvania in 2022, rebranding to the Liberal moniker in 2024, with a focus on political solutions through the electoral process and classical ...

, candidate Dave Kocur and executive board member

Kevin Gaughen Kevin is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; ; ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant ''Kevan'' is anglicised from , an Irish diminutive form.''A Dictiona ...

, were collecting signatures for Kocur to appear on the ballot for the election for PA-104. The pair were approached by Dauphin County Parks and Recreation director Anthea Stebbin and two security guards and ordered to immediately cease collecting signatures and vacate the park's premises. The County stated in its defense that when the land which would become the park was purchased in 1980, one of the clauses of the deed was that no political activities would take place on the property. Kocur and Gaughen argued that since it is public parkland that the county government shouldn't be allowed restrict

First Amendment First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

rights based on clauses of deeds. The pair's legal team, the

Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), formerly called the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit civil liberties group founded in 1999 with the mission of protecting freedom of speech on col ...

(FIRE), cited a 1966

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

case, '' Evans v. Newton'', which states that any local government's property-conveyance restrictions must comport with the Constitution. The county was noted as being unusually confrontational on the issue when the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. T ...

attempted to mediate. In March 2023, the County called FIRE's legal notice a "threat" and refused to negotiate with the defendants, their legal team, or the ACLU, resulting in the case reaching the

United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania The United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania (in case citations, M.D. Pa.) is a district level federal court with jurisdiction over approximately one half of Pennsylvania. The court was created in 1901 by subdividing t ...

. On April 26, 2023, the Court found in favor of Kocur and Gaughen; it ordered Dauphin County and Stebbin to end the unconstitutional ban on political speech in the park and pay the pair $91,000.

References

{{Authority control Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Georgian architecture in Pennsylvania Historic districts in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania

Hunter Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, ...

National Register of Historic Places in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania Blacksmith shops