The Wright’s Ferry Mansion was built in 1738 for Quaker farmer and businesswoman Susanna Wright Susanna never married, and was a remarkably influential woman of the colonial frontier. She owned a 100-acre tract here that she purchased when the area was still a remote wilderness.
Along with her father, John Wright, and fellow Quaker families like the Barbers and Blunstons, she helped establish the settlement of "Wright’s Ferry," which served as a vital crossing point for pioneers heading west. The house is the oldest remaining structure in Columbia and serves as a physical link to the town’s origins as the gateway to the west.

A Showcase of Pre-1750s Furnishings
William and Mary with Queen Anne Artifacts:

Susanna Wright was the defining figure of this house. She transforming it into a center of intellectual and industrial activity. She was a true Renaissance woman. She was a poet, botanist, and scholar who maintained a lifelong correspondence with luminaries such as Benjamin Franklin and James Logan.
Within the walls of this home, she practiced medicine, provided legal counsel to her neighbors, and managed a diverse agricultural operation. Most notably, she established one of the first successful silk industries in the American colonies, raising silkworms and producing high-quality silk that was even sent to England to be woven for the British royal family.

A Monument to Susanna Wright:

The Floorplan:

A Map Shows Quaker Settlers
here in Columbia, Lancaster County:

‍ The pent eaves and pent roof are Germanic details on this Anglo-Quaker house. The Susanna Wright House is a beautiful example of the cross-cultural influences on Pennsylvania’s early Quaker houses. These early houses often combine both Germanic and English prototypes into a New World vernacular that personifies the ideals of William Penn’s welcoming Holy Experiment.
The house’s kitchen showcases Pennsylvania German furniture, while many of the other furnishings are high style Philadelphia-area objects of Ango design. The house speaks of both English and German immigration, and represents the ideals of th Pennsylvania melting pot.

Above: The Extaordinary Suzy Wright - A Colonial Woman on the Frontier, by Teri Kanefield, 2016. Image source: Amazon.com
“At 16, Wright emigrated in 1714 from England to Pennsylvania with her family to escape religious persecution. She chose to remain unmarried to retain freedoms (such as the ability to own property) only allowed single women. Wright gained acclaim as a poet, correspondent, advocate, and naturalist and for her legal and political work.” Quote: A review by Elizabeth Nicolai, Anchorage Public Library, AK.

Another Grande Dame of the Susquehanna
Louise Steinman von Hess
She Restored the Susanna Wright House.

Louise Steinman von Hess was a dedicated Lancaster County philanthropist and preservationist. One of her most significant projects was the restoration of Wright’s Ferry Mansion where she collaborated with the renowned restoration architect G. Edwin Brumbaugh, and with her husband Richard Hess.
Under her direction, the mansion was furnished with a world-class collection of pre-1750 decorative arts, reflecting a high standard of historical accuracy and craftsmanship. She also funded the restoration of Lancaster’s Sehner-Ellicot-von Hess House.

Architect G. Edwin Brumbaugh
And Louise Steinman von Hess:

Links:

Wright’s Ferry Mansion
National Register of Historic Places
Susquahanna Riverlands
Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County