The Harriet Tubman Home preserves the legacy of "The Moses of Her People" on 26 acres of land in Auburn. The site, now part of the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park, includes the home where Tubman lived and the Home for the Aged that she established for elderly African Americans.
In 1857, Tubman relocated her parents from St. Catharines, Ontario to Auburn. Her friend William H. Seward — then a US Senator from New York — provided a two-story brick home on the outskirts of town, later selling the property to Tubman for a modest sum (an illegal transaction at the time, since she was still legally enslaved under federal law).
In 1896, Tubman purchased the adjacent 25-acre parcel at auction for $1,450. Unable to fund the home she envisioned on her $20 monthly Congressional pension alone, she deeded the property to the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in 1903. The Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged opened in 1908 and housed twelve to fifteen residents throughout Tubman's remaining years.
After Tubman's death in 1913, the home operated for a few more years before closing. The frame building stood vacant until 1944, when the city ordered it demolished. Bishop William J. Walls of the AME Zion Church organized a fund drive that raised $30,000 for restoration. The restored home was rededicated on April 13, 1953 as a memorial to Tubman's life and work.