The first house built at this location, a simple one-room home, was constructed in 1823. Land developer&nbsp;Colonel Wilhelmus Mynderse built the current house around 1855. It stood on a 10-acre estate that included a carriage house, vineyard, garden,&nbsp;and orchard. The next owner, Mrs. Leroy Partridge, bought the home and was responsible for its conversion to the Queen Anne style. The house was also fitted with new features including&nbsp;stained-glass windows, gas lights, and carved fireplaces. The entire third floor&nbsp;was added as well. The last private owner of the house was the Norman Becker family, who moved acquired the house in 1890. It remained in the family until 1961 when the Society purchased it.&nbsp; The collection of the Seneca Falls Historical Society&nbsp;is large, comprising around 200,000 historical items and artifacts, and 20,000 photographs. Items in the collection include books, ledgers, diaries, clothing, Civil War accounts, documents related to the women's rights movement, and genealogy records. All of these are available for research. Additionally, behind the house is a c.1895 tower clock that used to be atop the Hoskins Block building.&nbsp;

The Seneca Falls Historical Society is housed in this historic c.1855 home. 

The tower clock was built around 1895 and is on display behind the house. 

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This beautiful Victorian-era home is the headquarters of the Seneca Falls Historical Society which was established in 1896. The house was built around 1855 in the Italianate style and was converted to the Queen Anne style around 1875. The Society preserves and promotes the area's rich history through exhibits, its large collection, and the various educational and entertainment events it offers throughout the year. The house also contains original and period furnishings. 

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This walking tour begins at the historic home of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and concludes with the Women's Rights National Historic Park, National Women's Hall of Fame and the Seneca Falls Historical Society. Highlights of the tour include several monuments that commemorate the history of women's suffrage and the role of Seneca Falls in the movement for women's rights in the 19th and early 20th century. The tour also includes Seneca Falls' Wesleyan Chapel. In 1848, this church held the First Women’s Rights Convention which is also known as the Seneca Falls Convention.

There is some dispute about exactly when the Stanton family moved into the home on Washington Street. Some sources maintain that it was 1846, with others stating that it was 1847, the year Elizabeth’s father deeded the property to his son-in-law. The family was certainly there by 1848, the year of the Seneca Falls Convention, and remained there until 1862.The Stantons had three children when they moved to Seneca Falls and had four more during the time they lived in the home. Elizabeth, already dedicated to social justice causes, often felt overwhelmed by the responsibilities of caring for her children and managing a household. She came to believe that women could never achieve their full potential as long as they were preoccupied with the responsibilities of home and family.Stanton’s own education began as a child, observing and listening to her father, who was an attorney. That was an informal, if highly effective, education, while her formal schooling took place at the Johnstown Academy and Emma Willard’s Troy Female Seminary. In 1840, she married abolitionist and lecturer Henry Stanton and soon became an outspoken abolitionist herself. The pair even honeymooned at an international abolitionist conference in London.It was in London that Stanton met Lucretia Mott, another abolitionist. The two women were incensed that women were excluded from the conference’s proceedings. They formed a fast friendship and agreed that at some point, after returning to the United States, they should host a similar conference focused on the rights of women. That conference—held in 1848—was the Seneca Falls Convention, which is hailed as the beginning of the feminist movement in the United States. Famed abolitionists Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison were in attendance.The Stantons lived in the home until 1862, when it was sold to John S. Edwards. The family then moved to Brooklyn. The Stanton home is a National Historic Landmark and is part of the Women’s Rights National Historic Park.Stanton was related to Gerrit Smith, who was an abolitionist and part of the "secret six" and backed John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.

This home, which was known as "Grassmere" in the mid-19th century, was the home of suffragist and women's rights leader Elizabeth Cady Stanton from 1847-1862. The property is now part of the Women's Rights National Historic Park which also includes historic sites related to the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention that included the Declaration of Sentiments which included many of the tenets of the first wave of feminist thought in the United States. Stanton was a pioneer in the movement for women's suffrage and also an influential voice among white Northen abolitionists.

Grassmere: The Elizabeth Cady Stanton House

The school operated until 1933 when it and two other schools combined into the Elizabeth Cady Stanton School. A local resident, Howard Warner, bought the former Fourth Ward School and converted it into apartments. He died in 1981. Three years later, the national land conservation organization, Trust for Public Land, bought the building, maintained it, and sold it the next year to&nbsp;developers who converted it into four apartments.&nbsp;

This large red building is the historic former Fourth Ward School. It was built in 1869 and is an excellent example of a mid-19th-century schoolhouse. Designed in the Italianate architectural style, it represents the transition from one-room schoolhouses to multi-room school buildings. It is also significant in that it was among the first schools in New York to be built after the state legislature, in 1867, passed legislation that consolidated school districts into larger ones. This gave local communities greater control over raising taxes for schools (some state money helped fund schools as well). Public education became "free" as a result of these changes. Finally, Fourth Ward School is also important because its size illustrates the growth of Seneca Falls during the mid-to-late 19th century as a result of the economic benefits generated by the Erie Canal. Today, the old school, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is an apartment building.

Fourth Ward School

The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 for its architecture and association with Amelia Bloomer. There is evidence that suggests it was a terminus of the Underground Railroad. Unfortunately, more information about this isn't readily available.&nbsp; Amelia Bloomer grew up in Homer, New York. Although her education was limited to a few years, she was able to become a teacher at the age of 17. In 1840, she met and married a man named Dexter Bloomer, who ran a newspaper called the Seneca Falls County Courier. They moved to Seneca Falls where she became involved in local activism. Dexter suggested she begin to write columns in the paper, which earned her notoriety among the activist community.&nbsp; After she started writing for the paper, Dexter was elected postmaster. He appointed her as his assistant. This enabled her to make her office the unofficial headquarters of the town's women's rights movement. Her adoption and promotion of bloomers, which came to symbolize the movement, garnered criticism from both conservative men and women.&nbsp;&nbsp; She supported women's rights in general, but the primary thrust of her activism was temperance (she also strongly supported suffrage). She did attend the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention (the first women's rights convention in the country) but did not sign the Declaration of Sentiments, which was the document stating the convention's resolutions. Her unwavering commitment to temperance was not shared by other women activists, who thought other causes of the women's rights movement were more important. In 1851, she introduced Elizabeth Cady Stanton to Susan B. Anthony, which started the decades-long partnership between the two women. Amelia and Dexter moved to Iowa in 1854. A year earlier she sold The Lilly, as it was too difficult to manage. In Iowa, she was president of the Iowa Woman Suffrage Association between 1871-1873. She continued to advocate for women's rights until she died in 1894 at the age of 76. She is buried in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Dexter published a compilation of Amelia's writings in 1895 (see link below).

This historic home is significant for being the home of Amelia Bloomer (1818-1894), one of the leading women's rights advocates of the 19th century. She was also a supporter of the temperance movement, which was the movement against consuming alcohol, and the first woman to own and operate a newspaper, which was called The Lily. Bloomer was also known for her association with lower body garments called pantaloons worn by women in the 1850s. They were less cumbersome than traditional women's clothing of the day. She did not invent them but promoted them in her newspaper so as a result, they were called "bloomers." The house itself was originally built in 1830 in the Greek Revival style and was later enlarged and converted to the Italianate style in the 1850s. Apparently, Bloomer only lived in the house for just six months in 1840 after she got married. The home appears to be a private residence but can be viewed from the street.

Amelia Bloomer House

The three men depicted in "The Passage" were prominent supporters of the women's suffrage movement: Max Eastman, James Mott, and Frederick Douglas.Monument Timeline: [Use links below to learn more about these events]1776: Abigail Adams entreats her husband to "remember the ladies".1777: Women lose the right to vote in New York.1780: Women lose the right to vote in Massachusetts.1784: Women lose the right to vote in New Hampshire.1787: The US Constitutional Convention gives voting rights to all states. Women in all states, except New Jersey lose the right to vote.1807: Women lose the right to vote in New Jersey.1840: Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton barred from the World Anti-Slavery Convention in England because of their sex.1848: The first Women's Rights convention is held in Seneca Falls, James Mott presiding as chair.1850: National women's rights conventions begin to be held annually.1866: Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton form the American Equal Rights Association to support universal suffrage.1867: Fourteenth amendment passes Congress, defining citizens as "male".1869: Wyoming Territory grants women the right to vote.1870: Utah Territory grants women the right to vote. 15th Amendment ratified, granting Black men the right to vote.1878: A federal amendment to grant women the right to vote is introduced by Senator A.A. Sargeant of California.1887: Women in Utah lose the right to vote.1895: Utah grants full franchise for women.1896: Idaho grants full franchise for women.1910: Washington State grants full franchise. Max Eastman becomes a founder of the Men's League for Women's Suffrage.1911: California grants women the right to vote.1912: Oregon, Arizona and Kansas become full franchise states.1913: Alaska Territory grants full right to vote, Illinois grants rights for municipal and presidential elections, but not state.1914: Montana and Nevada enfranchise women.1916: Jeanette Rankin is elected to the House of Representatives from the state of Montana.November 6, 1917: New York approves women's right to vote.1917: 500 suffragists arrested for picketing the White House, charged with obstructing traffic. 168 of them served jail time.1918: President Wilson lends support. Suffrage amendment passes the House but loses by 2 votes in the Senate.1919: Michigan, South Dakota and Oklahoma grant women the right to vote.1920: 19th Amendment Ratified.

Erected in 2015, this monument commemorates the struggle women fought for their right to vote. It consists of three statues depicting men and a timeline that wraps around them. The first date is 1776 with a quote from Abigail Adams stating "remember the ladies." The last date is 1920, the year the 19th Amendment was ratified, which prevents the federal government and states from denying women the right to vote.

"Passage" Monument

On May 12, 1851, the three women attended an antislavery lecture by William Lloyd Garrison in Seneca Falls. After the meeting Bloomer and Anthony meet Stanton in the street, and Bloomer introduced the two women. Amelia Bloomer and Elizabeth Stanton are portrayed in the reform style of dress, named “Bloomers” after Amelia Bloomer, featuring trousers under a shortened skirt. Just a few weeks before this May 1851 meeting Bloomer and Stanton had worn the new style publicly in Seneca Falls. The artist also portrayed Stanton holding a book to represent her as the intellectual force behind the early women’s movement. In her autobiography, Elizabeth Cady Stanton remembered her first meeting with Susan B. Anthony: "At this stage of her development I met my future friend and coadjutor for the first time. How well I remember the day! George Thompson and William Lloyd Garrison having announced an anti-slavery meeting in Seneca Falls, Miss Anthony came to attend it. These gentlemen were my guests. Walking home, after the adjournment, we met Mrs. Bloomer and Miss Anthony on the corner of the street, waiting to greet us. There she stood, with her good, earnest face and genial smile, dressed in gray delaine, hat and all the same color, relieved with pale blue ribbons, the perfection of neatness and sobriety. I liked her thoroughly, and why I did not at once invite her home with me to dinner, I do not know. She accuses me of that neglect, and has never forgiven me, as she wished to see and hear all she could of our noble friends. I suppose my mind was full of what I had heard, or my coming dinner, or the probable behavior of three mischievous boys who had been busily exploring the premises while I was at the meeting.”The meeting began a long friendship and partnership between Elizabeth and Susan, both of whom became leading social and women's rights activists during the 19th century. Among the many causes they supported, women's right to vote was the one they championed the most. Although they did not live to see this dream come to fruition, they, along with fellow activist Lucretia Mott, laid the foundation on which women's rights movement ultimately achieved its goal in 1920 with the ratification of the 19th Amendment.The Anthony-Stanton-Bloomer statue was done by professor and sculptor Ted Aub and was dedicated on July 18, 1998, the 150th anniversary of the Seneca Falls Convention. The location along Van Cleef Lake is along the route visitors take between the Women’s Rights National Historical Park and the Elizabeth Cady Stanton House.

This statue and historical marker commemorate the historic 1851 meeting between women's rights activists Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who were introduced to each other by fellow activist Amelia Bloomer. Susan and Elizabeth are depicted at the moment they shook hands for the first time, with Amelia looking on. On the ground next to the statue is the historical marker, which provides information about the meeting.

"When Anthony Met Stanton"

This historical marker describes the area called The Flats used to be Seneca's bustling industrial center. It was located in an area immediately north of the marker, what is now under the man-made Van Cleef Lake. From the latter years of the 1800s to 1914, hundreds of workers were employed in factories that produced firefighting equipment such as pumps and fire engines, as well as other goods. These factories thrived because they were situated along the Cayuga and Seneca Canal, which was built in 1818. Many of the workers were Italian and Irish immigrants. All of this activity ceased in 1914 when locks of the canal at Seneca Falls were replaced by bigger ones, which, needed more water to operate. As a result, the lake was created, which forced the demolition of over 100 factories and 60 homes. By the time the lake was created, canal usage was on the decline as companies preferred using trains or trucks for shipping. The locks did have generators, however, and as such produced electricity. Today, the lake and canal are used for recreational purposes.

Historical Marker: The Flats

Since 2020, the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York, has been located in the former Seneca Knitting Mill. The mill building was constructed in 1844, just four years before the Seneca Falls Convention was held nearby. The building is a fitting choice for the Hall of Fame, as many of the people employed at the mill were women, a common practice in the textile industry.Multiple generations of Seneca Falls residents made their living at the mill, which primarily made high-quality socks. Former employees of the mill recall a family-like environment and the mill’s owner for much of the twentieth century, George Souhan, is remembered with genuine fondness. In the mid-1990s, however, the mill was purchased by North Carolina-based Ridgeview, Inc., and the new owners made a series of misguided business decisions that ultimately led to the mill’s closure in 1999. Seneca was the last of New York’s hosiery mills to shut down.But the closure of Seneca Knitting Mill was not just another sad denouement for a once-thriving American factory. The mill had long roots in Seneca Falls, but it also had deep connections to the 1848 gathering of feminists in the city. A number of the young women who were employed there in 1848 attended the Seneca Falls Convention and two of the mill’s trustees were among the 32 men who signed the convention’s Declaration of Sentiments. Additionally, because many of the town’s residents were also abolitionists, they refused to process Southern cotton and only milled wool. The building’s floors still shine from having absorbed decades’ worth of lanolin from the wool that was milled there.The National Women’s Hall of Fame was originally located in the Helen Mosher Barben Building, but it moved to the renovated Seneca Knitting Mill building in 2020. The building is a part of the Seneca Falls Historic District and is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Located in a community that is widely regarded as the birthplace of the women's rights movement, the National Women's Hall of Fame offers exhibits that share the stories of women who have made significant contributions in a wide range of areas including science, sports, education, arts, business, government, and philanthropy. The organization was established in 1969 and is currently housed in the Helen Mosher Barben Building in downtown Seneca Falls. The Hall is the oldest membership organization in the country devoted to showcasing the achievements of women. In 2020, the Hall relocated to the newly renovated Seneca Knitting Mill. It is contributing property of the Seneca Falls Village Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

National Women's Hall of Fame (Seneca Knitting Mill)

Wesleyan Methodist ChurchAs stated above, the first women's rights convention was held in the Wesleyan Methodist Church in July 1848. About 300 men and women attended the two-day event. Although the first day was intended for women only, about 40 men were allowed inside but were asked not to speak. Men were invited and allowed to participate on the second day. The building itself was originally built in 1843. Only some parts of the original exterior walls remain; the rest was entirely reconstructed.Elizabeth Cady Stanton House   Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her family lived in this house from 1847 to 1862 when they moved to New York City. It is a National Historic Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Elizabeth was born in Johnstown, New York in 1815 and attended an all-boys school where she excelled, especially in math and languages. She then enrolled at Troy Female Seminary and graduated in 1832. She met her husband, Henry Stanton, in 1840 and they soon got married in May of that year. True to her beliefs, Elizabeth asked the minister who married them to remove the words "to obey" from the wedding vows. Henry began practicing law, first in Albany, New York and then in Boston. They also started a family at this time. In 1847, Elizabeth's father invited them to move to Seneca Falls to live in a house he owned. Henry was also ill and thought that moving away from Boston would enable him to recover. Elizabeth assumed ownership of the house in June of that year. Seneca Falls ConventionThe idea for the women's rights convention originated in 1840. In June of that year, right after they got married, Elizabeth and Henry traveled to London to attend the World Anti-Slavery Convention. A journalist and lawyer by trade, Henry was also a staunch abolitionist (as was Elizabeth) and was a delegate representing the American Anti-Slavery Society at the convention. Elizabeth and other women were initially not allowed to attend. However, after some debate, they were given permission to sit at the back of the hall but were barred from participating. It was here that Elizabeth met and befriended activist Lucretia Mott. Both were, understandably, very angry at the treatment they and the other women experienced. As a result, they agreed that someday a women's rights convention would be held in America.After returning to America, Elizabeth settled into her domestic life. However, her experience in raising children and maintaining the household strengthened her women's rights convictions even further. She deplored the fact that women were expected to be housewives and longed for intellectual stimulation. On July 9, 1848, she vented her frustrations to a group of women friends (Lucretia Mott, Mary Ann M’Clintock, Martha Wright, and Jane Hunt) at the Richard Hunt House. They all agreed that it was finally time to call for the convention. They placed ads in newspapers, including in the North Star, which was published by former slave and abolitionist Frederick Douglass, who attended the convention. As a result, news of the gathering spread quickly. On July 16, Mary Ann M’Clintock invited Elizabeth and other organizers to her house to draft a document called the Declaration of Sentiments, which outlined the resolutions of the convention. The convention consisted of several sessions that touched on a different topics including women's role in society, law, and, importantly, the right to vote. There was disagreement whether to keep the right to vote in the Declaration of Sentiments but in the end it was not removed. Frederick Douglass, who was the only African American to attend, argued forcefully for its inclusion. This decision would prove to be critical because the right to vote quickly became a core principle of the women's rights movement nationally.

The Women's National Historic Park commemorates the first Women’s Rights Convention, which was held here in Seneca Falls on July 19-20, 1848. The convention was organized by a group of women's rights activists led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902) and Lucretia Mott (1793-1880), who was a Quaker and known for her excellent oratorical skills. The convention marked the beginning of the women's rights and suffrage movements in the country. Elizabeth Cady Stanton fought for these issues for the majority of her adult life and was one of the foremost political figures of the 19th century. Just over six acres in size, the park consists of two properties associated with the convention and the women's suffrage movement—Wesleyan Methodist Church and the Elizabeth Cady Stanton House—and a Visitor Center, which is located next to the church. Other landmarks related to the convention are on the Votes for Women History Trail, including the M'Clintock House and the Richard Hunt House, both of which are located just to the west in the town of Waterloo. The park was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Women's Rights National Historical Park 

The Seneca Falls Convention was not the first idea for women’s rights. Conversations had started in the 1830s, and in 1840 at the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London, Stanton and Mott first met and began discussions about holding a convention for women’s rights. Eight years later, the women held the event in New York in the town where Stanton lived. Along with Stanton and Mott, three other women, Mary M’Clintock, Martha Coffin Wright, and Jane Hunt, joined them in organizing the convention. These women organized this event to talk about the social, civic, and religious rights of women.Before the convention, the women drafted a Declaration of Sentiments, modeled after the Declaration of Independence, that outlined their list of 19 grievances and demands. Among those was that women were forced into submission, having to be obedient to their spouses, denied education, denied property, and given inferior roles. During the convention, there were 11 resolutions formed which demanded equality, with equal rights in church and access to jobs. All were passed unanimously except the 9th&nbsp;one, regarding the right to vote. Stanton and abolitionist Frederick Douglass argued in favor of it. This resolution eventually became the foundation for the women’s suffrage movement.&nbsp;Those five women and other leaders continued campaigning for women’s suffrage throughout the years. It was not until 72 years later, in 1920, that women were granted the right to vote in the United States with the 19th Amendment. Elizabeth Cady Stanton also collaborated with women’s rights activist Susan B. Anthony a few years later, giving speeches and writing articles and books on women’s suffrage. It was together that they founded the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) in 1869 where they discussed politics and legal issues.The Wesleyan Chapel were the Seneca Falls Convention was held was built in 1843. The convention was not the only political movement held there. “The church was a local haven for antislavery activity, political rallies, and free speech events” (NPS). The church was sold in 1871 and altered by different owners, then bought by the National Park Service in 1985. Though little of the original building remains, the church can be found in Women’s Rights National Park and is undergoing a remodeling. The event that took place here in the summer of 1848 changed the discussion around women’s rights, set in motion the precedent for the suffrage movement, became a symbol for equality, and was the “birthplace of American feminism” (NCC Staff).

The Wesleyan Chapel is located in Seneca Falls, New York and is best known for hosting the First Women’s Rights Convention, also known as the Seneca Falls Convention. This convention took place on July 19-20, 1848 with about 300 men and women in attendance. It was organized by advocates for women’s rights Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. Most importantly, the Seneca Falls Convention sparked the fight for women’s suffrage and their fight for equal rights. Today, the chapel is still standing in Women’s Rights National Park.

Seneca Falls Women's History Tour

Seneca Falls Historical Society

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Backstory and Context

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