Historic Rock Ford Plantation: Planning a Lancaster Visit

Historic Rock Ford Plantation includes a Georgian mansion, a reconstructed stone bank barn, a tenant house, a period kitchen garden, paths and grounds. The site sits within Lancaster County Central Park, a 544-acre county park.

The General Edward Hand Mansion dates to around 1794. On its grounds, monuments recognize farmers and laborers who worked at Rock Ford, General Hand and Robert Fulton. Fulton experimented with prototype steamboat models in the river beside the grounds.

For another Lancaster history stop, the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in downtown Lancaster offers a different historical focus.

A guided tour of the Hand Mansion introduces the house and the people who lived and worked at Rock Ford. Interpretation covers Edward Hand’s medical career, his service as Adjutant General to George Washington during the American Revolution, and his business and political life at Rock Ford.

Tours also address the lives of the Hand family and the enslaved, indentured and free tenants, servants and laborers who lived and worked on the property.

The late Georgian mansion has rooms furnished in period style. The reconstructed 18th-century stone bank barn houses the John J. Snyder, Jr. Gallery, whose collection presents Lancaster County decorative arts from about 1760 to 1820.

Objects include furniture, portraits, long rifles, tall-case clocks and silver. Its audio tour covers 10 objects, takes about 45 minutes and is available in English and Spanish.

A regular admission ticket includes the guided mansion tour and self-guided gallery admission. The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania visitor guide covers another area museum visit.

The recurring public tour season runs from April 1 through October 31. During that period, guided mansion tours run Tuesday through Friday and Sunday at 10 a.m., 12 p.m. and 2 p.m.; Saturday tours are at 10 a.m. and 12 p.m.

The Snyder Gallery is open Tuesday through Friday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It is closed on Mondays during the tour season. Mansion tours take about 60 to 75 minutes, so allow additional time if you plan to take in the gallery audio tour as well.

Advance ticket purchase is recommended. Mansion tours accommodate up to 15 visitors; groups of 15 or more need to make special arrangements. Be on the Mansion piazza at your scheduled tour time. Check the official site before you go for current schedules and admission details.

The site is at 881 Rockford Road, with the main parking lot at the entrance off Rockford Road near the Mansion. Directions identify the turn into the property at latitude 40.019726 and longitude -76.287249.

Accessible parking includes three spaces beside the Mansion’s brick-walk entrance and four at the Barn: two at the Ann B. Barshinger Welcome Center entrance to the gallery and two at the Barn’s lower entrance.

The Mansion has stairs, but its first floor is wheelchair accessible; a book of photographs of the upper level is available on request. The Snyder Gallery is described as handicapped accessible.

Public restrooms are in the Welcome Center, not the Mansion. Free Wi-Fi is available in the Mansion and Barn.

Historic Rock Ford is minutes from downtown Lancaster and lies within Lancaster County Central Park, so you can pair a site visit with time in the city or the surrounding park.

From Dutch Wonderland Inn, it’s about a 12-minute drive to the plantation. The mansion, gallery and grounds give you several distinct parts of the site to fit into the day.