The House is the home of one of the anti-slavery leaders of the Congregational Church mission in western Iowa. Reverend Hitchcock used his home to assist in the safe passage of fugitive slaves (or Freedom Seekers) through southwestern Iowa on their way east and north to freedom during the mid-19th century.
In 2016, the Secretary of the Interior announced that the Reverend George B. Hitchcock House had been designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL). The National Historic Landmark designation if the highest recognition accorded by our nation to historic properties. These special places embody the actual sites where significant historical events occurred or where prominent Americans worked or lived, and represent the ideas that shaped our nation. NHL designations are an official recognition by the federal government of a historic property’s significance. At the time of designation less that 2,500 historic places bore this designation.
