Friendship Hill National Historic Site in Farmington, Pennsylvania

PARK OVERVIEW

Friendship Hill National Historic Site in Farmington, Pennsylvania, preserves the home of Albert Gallatin, a man most remembered for being the Secretary of the Treasury for 13 years under presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison (1801-1813). During this time he planned the financing for the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark expedition. Visitors to Friendship Hill can tour Gallatin’s house and hike over 10 miles of trails. There is also a picnic area.

Albert Gallatin was born in Switzerland and immigrated to the United States in 1780 when he was 19 years old. He became an American citizen in 1785. Gallatin started out as a land speculator investing in the Ohio River Valley, which at the time was considered part of the western frontier. In 1786, he purchased the 370-acre plot of land that would become known as Friendship Hill because he dreamed of the country lifestyle of a farmer. At the time, the land was in Virginia, but it later became part of Pennsylvania. He began construction on a small house at Friendship Hill in 1789, the same year he married Sophia Allegre. Sadly, Sofia died in October that year, only five months after getting married.

After his wife’s death, Gallatin turned his focus to politics (he remarried in 1793). In addition to his terms as Secretary of the Treasury, he was a Pennsylvania state legislator who helped draft the state constitution (1790-93 and 1795-1801); served briefly as a state senator before being disqualified for not being a U. S. citizen for at least nine years, the minimum requirement (1793); helped moderate the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794; was one of the negotiators of the Treaty of Ghent that ended the War of 1812 (1814); served as United States Minister to France (1816-23) and Great Britain (1826-27); helped found New York University (1830); and was the first president of the National Bank of New York (1831-39). He died August 12, 1849, while living on Long Island in New York.

In the midst of his political career, Gallatin continued his land speculating. In 1795 he and partners purchased land on the Monongahela River and established the town of New Geneva. A few years later he opened a general store, grist mill, a gun-making factory, and a very popular glassworks. However, because of long absences required by his political career, these business ventures ultimately failed. In 1832, for financial reasons, and even more so because of his wife’s dislike for the country life, he sold his stake in New Geneva and his property at Friendship Hill and moved east, eventually settling in New York. Subsequent owners added onto the house, making it much larger today than it was when Gallatin lived there.

Friendship Hill National Historic Site came about due to the National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978—aka the Park-Barrel Bill, a play on Pork Barrel—that authorized $1.2 billion for over 100 new parks, rivers, and trails. The pet park project of nearly every politician in Congress was included in the bill, ensuring that very few would vote against it. Ultimately 15 new National Parks—Friendship Hill being one of them—two historical trails, and one national river were created.

All of the history-themed parks created by the bill are of marginal historical significance, and five of the 15 are among the least visited in the National Park system. Friendship Hill National Historic Site is one of those five. It saw 16,395 visitors in 2022, ranking it 337 out of 387 parks that keep visitation statistics. The house is one of the ugliest National Park houses, rivaled perhaps only by Frederick Law Olmstead’s house in Boston (#345 on the list). It is of no architectural significance, and the majority of the complex wasn’t even built by Gallatin. Furthermore, Gallatin himself is certainly of minor historical importance in the grand scheme of the United States. The park most likely resulted from one politician owing a favor to another—a Congressman owes the local mayor, who hopes to get some insignificant property declared a National Park in order to bring in tourist dollars—or the federal government acquiring the house from an owner eager to pawn it off on the taxpayer, probably because he owes back taxes, not for any historical reasons. And if neither is the case, you’ll certainly be thinking of such things when you visit.

OPERATING HOURS

The Gallatin House is open from 9 AM to 5 PM every day in May through September and on weekends the rest of the year. The house is closed on New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday, Washington’s Birthday/President’s Day, Columbus Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day.

The grounds of Friendship Hill are open every day from sunrise to sunset.

Keep in mind that times can always change, so before making travel plans, be sure to get the latest schedule on the National Park Service’s official Operating Hours and Seasons web page for Friendship Hill National Historic Site.

FEES

There is no fee to enter Friendship Hill National Historic Site.

SCHEDULING YOUR TIME

Gallatin House Tour
allow 1 hour

Hiking Trails
10 miles of trails

Back to the Top