land and built a hall next to the Meetinghouse, which they called the Free Hall and later the People's Hall. The group declared that "every question, creed, or race was welcome on our platform," and above the platform was the motto "Let Truth and Error grapple." According to resident Gertrude W. Nields, one Quaker who had been supporting the group, withdrew his support on seeing the motto, considering it "inconsistent in Friends to grapple with anything - even error." Ercildoun became known as center of the Underground Railroad with groups as large as 33 escaped slaves passing through town. Ercildoun's location about 15 miles north of the slave state of Maryland contributed to this activity, and the hamlet fed both the northern and southern Pennsylvania branches of the Underground Railroad both before and during the Civil War. Gideon Pierce and James Fulton, Jr. were among the best known local conductors of the Underground Railroad. Escaped slave Jacob Carter and his brothers Joseph and Richard passed through during their escape. Jacob later bought land and began his ministry in the hamlet. After the Civil War, former slaves settled in the hamlet and People's Hall served as a grange, church, library, town hall and housed the Fallowfield Historical Society. Over the years the hall suffered from deferred maintenance and in 2015 it was named to Preservation Pennsylvania's list of endangered historic sites. The hall is managed by a Board of Trustees, but historically the trustee positions were inherited, the number of active trustees decreased and resources for upkeep dwindled. The board has been reconstituted, is organizing fund raising, and is starting to restore the People's Hall. Gideon Pierce built a store on across from the Friends Meeting House in 1818. The Webster family bought the store in 1863 and operated it until 1987. The store still stands and remains active today as Triple Fresh Market. The name "Ercildoun" was first used by Pierce when his store housed the village's post office in 1850. The July 1877 "Ercildoun Tornado" was so violent that it was the subject of a lecture at the French Academy of Sciences in 1878. Fourteen buildings were destroyed. In 1894 an African-American congregation built the Christ Disciple Church. Notable residents Smedley Darlington Rebecca Lukens Charlotte Moore Sitterly References Further reading Unincorporated communities in Chester County, Pennsylvania Populated places on the Underground Railroad Unincorporated communities in Pennsylvania Historic districts on