The A.M.E. Zion Church unit is administered by the National Park Service (NPS), and the South Street properties, including a historic barn and a visitor center, are jointly managed and operated by both the NPS and the Harriet Tubman Home, Inc.

The Harriet Tubman Grave, in nearby Fort Hill Cemetery, is not part of the park.

The group of properties also makes up a National Historic Landmark, with the first parcel being declared in 1974 and two others added in 2001.

They relocated to a brick home on the outskirts of Auburn located at 180 South Street that she had purchased from an acquaintance William H. Seward, which was an illegal transaction.

Seward's deal along with being illegal was fairly priced with flexible terms, which probably stemmed from their friendship from the Underground Railroad.

Since 1953, two more buildings have been added to the property from the transitions of it becoming a historic site, national park, and public attraction.

The sister park in Maryland was established first, on December 19, 2014, and incorporates much of the previously-authorized Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument, which had been designated in 2013.

Tubman's life is commemorated in the Ontario city at Salem Chapel National Historic Site, the church that she frequented, and it is still home to an active congregation.