Owned by Edward Hand, an adjutant general to George Washington during the American Revolutionary War, this house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 21, 1976.

Nevertheless, slavery was legal in all of the thirteen original states and existed in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania during the time of the Hand family's residence at Rock Ford.

Historic Rock Ford is widely considered to be one of the most important examples of Georgian domestic architecture surviving in Pennsylvania and the most intact building predating 1800 in Lancaster County.

Located on the site of Rock Ford's original barn, it was renovated to showcase an exceptional collection of Lancaster County decorative arts including tall case clocks, furniture, silver, ceramics, and paintings which were gifted to the foundation by the renowned scholar John J. Snyder Jr.

The gallery exhibits decorative arts from the eras of the Revolutionary War and the Early American Republic, circa 1760 to 1820, a period roughly congruent with the Hand family's residence in Lancaster.