Women's Rights National Historical Park

136 Fall Street
Seneca Falls. NY 13148

Office telephone (315) 568-2991

WELCOME to Women's Rights National Historical Park

Discover How Five Women Changed the World

In 1848 Elizabeth Cady Stanton and four other women invited the public to the First Women's Rights Convention to discuss expanding the role of women in America. At the end of the two days, 100 people made a public commitment to work together to improve women’s quality of life. While women have achieved greater equality with the vote, property rights, and education, the revolution continues today.

Visitor Center and Exhibits
136 Fall Street, Seneca Falls
Open daily.

• Begin your visit to Women's Rights National Historical Park in the visitor center.
• View an introductory film "Dreams of Equality" in the Guntzel Theater.
• Explore our permanent exhibit gallery on the second floor.
• Meet the organizers of the convention face to face at the First Wave statue exhibit.
• Rangers and park staff may assist you with planning your visit, brochures, tour times, schedules, directions, and maps.
• Restrooms are located off the first floor lobby. The visitor center is accessible to wheelchair users.
• Adjacent to the visitor center is Declaration Park with outdoor seating, the Waterwall, and the Wesleyan Chapel.

Wesleyan Chapel
136 Fall Street, Seneca Falls
Programs daily.

The Wesleyan Chapel was built in 1843. On July 19 and 20, 1848, the First Women's Rights Convention was held here. Even though Elizabeth Cady Stanton was the only one of the five organizers to live in Seneca Falls, the Wesleyan Chapel was well known to them all. The church was a local haven for antislavery activity, political rallies, and free speech events.

The original red brick Wesleyan Methodist Church was sold by the congregation in 1871 and extensively altered by subsequent owners. When the site was purchased by the National Park Service in 1985, very little original fabric remained. The site today offers a unique display of the highlighted historic fabric of the original building.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton House
32 Washington Street, Seneca Falls
Tours daily through December 7,2008. Will open March 7, 2009.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902) called her house at 32 Washington Street, Seneca Falls "Grassmere" and the "Center of the Rebellion". She moved into the home with her husband and three sons in May 1847. After Stanton and others successfully petitioned the Legislature of New York to pass a Married Woman's Property Act in April 1848, her father Daniel Cady deeded the property to his daughter Elizabeth. 

Over the next fourteen years, the family welcomed two more sons and two daughters. The entire family enjoyed the large farm house, its several out buildings, orchards, and gardens until Elizabeth Cady Stanton sold the property in 1862 and the family of nine moved to New York, New York.

M'Clintock House
14 William Street, Waterloo
Open Thursday through Sunday, 1:00-4:00 p.m. Programs offered at 2:00 and 3:00 p.m. House will re-open for the season on May 23, 2009.

Richard Hunt built the two story red-brick house at 14 East Williams Street in Waterloo, New York in 1836, but never lived there. The M'Clintock family of seven moved into the house in 1836 and were its first tenants. Thomas and Mary Ann, their five children, and others made this their home for 20 years until they returned to Philadelphia. 

The M'Clintock family ran a local business, led the local Quaker Monthly Meeting, and were involded in almost every reform activity in Western New York. Together they ran a Drugstore and school in the commercial buildings along Main Street, they supported Anti-slavery, Temperance, and raised money to benefit the Irish famine, Hungarian Revolution, and the local poor.

 The M'Clintocks offered their house to fugitive slaves as a station on the Underground Railroad. How do we know the house was a station on the Underground Railroad? Learn why here.

On July 16, 1848, Mary Ann M'Clintock hosted a planning session for the First Women's Rights Convention. At this session she, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and perhaps several others drafted a document they called the Declaration of Sentiments. 

It was ratified on the second day of the First Woman's Rights Convention and signed by 100 men and women. Modeled on Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, this document proclaimed that "all men and women are created equal."

Hunt House

Richard Hunt built this house for his growing family. He had several acres of farmland surrounding the property.

On July 9, 1848 Jane Hunt hosted a social gathering in Lucretia Mott's honor where those assembled decided to call the first ever women's rights convention in the U.S.

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