The Underground Railroad — A historic America road trip

William Ingersoll Bowditch House

Abyssinian Meetinghouse

75 Newbury St, Portland, ME

Built in 1828 as a house of worship, it is the third oldest standing African American meeting house in the US. It closed in 1917 and the building is currently undergoing an extensive renovation

Asa and Caroline Wing House

3392 State Route 69, Mexico, New York

Popularly known as a well-documented location for harboring fugitive slaves, Asa and Caroline Wing purchased this 1 1/2 story abode located at Mexico, Oswego County, New York. in 1847.

Austin F. Williams Carriagehouse and House

127 Main Street Farmington, Connecticut

Known abolitionists Austin Williams and wife Jennet Cowles Williams purchased this property and they built a dormitory building where they housed the Mende men after their release.

Barney L. Ford Building

1514 Blake Street, Denver, Colorado

Owned by Barney L. Ford, an escaped slave. Ford opened his first Denver restaurant here. He gradually established himself as a businessman and eventually became a civil rights leader and politician.

Beecher Hall

Lockwood Pl, Jacksonville, IL

The oldest building on the campus of Illinois College in Jacksonville, Illinois.  Built in 1829 and named after the first president of Illinois College, Edward Beecher.

Bethel AME Church

414 W Vermont St, Indianapolis, IN

Founded in 1836 by William Paul Quinn and Augustus Turner. It is the first AME church in Indianapolis which played a vital role in the city's black community for over 160 years.

Bethel AME Church - Greenwich Township

Boston African American National Historic Site

46 Joy St, Boston, MA

The African American community of 19th century Boston were the leaders in Abolition Movement, the Underground Railroad, the Civil War, and the early struggle for equal rights and education.

Bruin Slave Jail

Camp Nelson Heritage Park

6614 Danville Rd, Nicholasville, KY

Photo byC. Bedford Crenshaw...

Central Pennsylvania African-American Museum

119 N 10th St, Reading, PA

Formerly the Bethel A.M.E. Church, built in 1837. It was rebuilt about 1867-1869 and remodeled in 1889.  The church is now home to a museum dedicated to the history of African Americans in Central PA.

Daniel Howell Hise House

100 Franklin Ave.

Purchased by the Hise Family in late 1850's. Renovations were made to include hidden rooms under the house and barn. Also used to host anti-slavery meetings and as lodging to visiting abolitionists.

David Ruggle Center for Early Florence History and Underground RR Studies

Dorsey-Jones House

Dr Richard Eell's House

415 Jersey St, Quincy, IL

The oldest standing two-story brick house in Quincy, the first stop for fugitives coming from Missouri. Dr. Richard Eells is credited with helping hundreds of slaves make their way North to freedom.

Dr. Hiram Rutherford House

14 S. Pike St. Oakland, Illinois

Dr. Hiram Rutherford is a doctor and an abolitionist in Illinois. Notable for his role in the Matson Trial of 1847, the only known case in which Abraham Lincoln defended a slave owner.

Dr. Nathan Thomas House

Dr. Nathan Thomas House - Underground Railroad, 613 E Cass St, Schoolcraft, MI

Home of  Dr. Nathan Thomas built in 1835, one of Michigan's most active Underground Railroad participants. Between 1840 - 1860, Dr. Thomas helped an estimated 1,500 fugitive slaves escape to freedom. 

Edwin W. and Charlotte Clarke House

Eleutherian College, Inc.

6927 IN-250, Madison, IN

Founded in 1848 by Rev. Thomas Craven. The first college in Indiana to admit students regardless of race or gender. Some trustees were among the most active participants in the Underground Railroad.

Fort Monroe

20 Bernard Rd, Hampton, VA

Known also as "Freedom Fortress," over 10,000 African Americans had sought refuge at Fort Monroe and eventually attained freedom after the reading of Pres. Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.

Fort Mose Historic State Park

Fort Scott

Fort Scott, KS

See twenty historic structures, a parade ground and five acres of restored tallgrass prairie. Tour 33 historically furnished rooms in the fort’s historic buildings and enjoy three exhibit areas.

Foster Memorial AME Zion Church

90 Wildey St, Tarrytown, NY

Founded in 1860 by Amanda and Henry Foster, Rev. Jacob Thomas, and Hiram Jimerson. Amanda Foster, considered the "Mother of the Church," was the driving force in the formation of the congregation.

Frederick Douglass National Historic Site

1411 W St SE, Washington, DC

Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark

5304 Oxbow Rd, Peterboro, NY

The lifetime home and office of Gerrit Smith. Driven by his liberal ideas and empowered by his wealth, he was one of the most powerful abolitionists in the United States.

Grimes Homestead

Harpers Ferry National Historical Park

Harriet Beecher Stowe House

2950 Gilbert Ave, Cincinnati, OH

Home to Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, prior to her marriage and to her father, Rev. Lyman Beecher, and his large family for nearly 20 years, from 1832 to the early 1850's

Harriet Beecher Stowe House - Brunswick

63 Federal Street Brunswick, Maine

Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896), author, humanitarian, and abolitionist, lived in this house from 1850 to 1852 during which time she wrote her famous novel Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Harriet Tubman Home

180 S Street Rd, Auburn, NY

The house was sold to Harriet Tubman by her friend, Senator William H. Seward. In order to fulfill her dream to build a home for the elderly, Tubman purchased a 25 acre parcel in 1896.

Historic Moncure Conway House

303 King St, Falmouth, VA

The boyhood home of Moncure Daniel Conway, the South’s most prominent abolitionist. It was built in 1807. During the American Civil War, the home was used as a Union hospital. 

Hitchcock House

63788 567th Ln, Lewis, IA

A welcome respite for runaway slaves and abolitionists who traveled through the state. Rev. George Hitchcock was an ardent abolitionist and an agent for the Underground Railroad.

Hubbard House UGRR Museum

1603 Walnut Blvd, Ashtabula, OH

William Hubbard arrived in the Connecticut Western Reserve in 1834 from Oneida County, NY. Only weeks after arriving in Ashtabula, William became a member of the Ashtabula County Anti-Slavery Society.

Jackson Homestead and Museum

527 Washington St, Newton, MA

Built by Timothy Jackson in 1809 and remained in the Jackson family until 1949, when it was given to the city of Newton. His son, William Jackson, became a prominent local politician and abolitionist.

James and Sophia Clemens Farmstead

467 Stingley Rd., Palestine, Ohio

One of the oldest and last remaining agricultural resources in one of Ohio’s earliest black settlements. This was the home of James Clemens, the founding father of the settlement.

Jefferson County Clerk

100 E Washington St, Charles Town, West Virginia

The site of the 1859 trial of John Brown after his raid and subsequent capture at Harpers Ferry. John Brown's violent protest against slavery set the stage for the bloody national conflict that would erupt three years later.

John Brown Farm

115 John Brown Rd, Lake Placid, NY

John Brown considered this his home during the ten years prior to his capture in the 1859 Harper's Ferry raid. After his death, this became a "pilgrimage" site for free men and white abolitionists. 

John Brown House

225 E King St, Chambersburg, PA

Also known as Ritner Boarding House. John Brown stayed here during the summer of 1859 under the alias of Isaac Smith while he formulated his plan and secured weapons for his attack at Harper's Ferry.

John Brown House & Farm

John Brown Museum

Main St & 10th St, Osawatomie, KS

Built around 1854 by Samuel Glenn and sold in 1855 to John Brown's brother-in-law Samuel Adair. The cabin provided a home for the Adair family but was often used by Brown for abolitionist activities.

John P. Parker

300 N Front St, Ripley, OH

The house was an important stop on the Underground Railroad. Owned by John Parker, a born slave who purchased his freedom in 1845 and helped fugitive slaves from Kentucky escape to the North.

John P. and Lydia Edwards House

Johnson House Historic Site

Jordan House

2001 Fuller Rd, West Des Moines, IA

One of the oldest structures in Polk Country and the oldest in West Des Moines. The house owned by James C. Jordan, serves both as a museum and as the office of West Des Moines Historical Society today.

Josiah Henson Park

Lawnside Historical Society

Levi Coffin House

201 US-27, Fountain City, IN

Built in 1839, this house was owned by Levi Coffin, a Quaker abolitionist. With the help of his wife Catharine, they helped more than 2,000 fugitive slaves escape to freedom.

Lewelling Quaker Museum

401 S Main St, Salem, IA

Henderson Lewelling, a Quaker from Indiana, moved to Salem in 1837. In 1843, with other members of the Salem Monthly Meeting, Lewelling established the Abolition Friends Monthly Meeting.

Liberty Farm

Madison Historic District

Madison, IN

Madison's most prominent days were before 1860 as a major transportation hub. It was also a stop on the Underground Railroad, with many homes having once been used for assisting the escape of slaves.

Mary Ann Shadd Cary House

Mayhew Cabin Museum Inc

Milton Community House

20 Parkview Dr, Milton, WI

Opened in 1844 as a stagecoach inn by Joseph Goodrich. It was built in the shape of a hexagon and is one of the oldest standing poured grout buildings. The House opened as a museum in May of 1954.  

Mount Auburn Cemetery

Mt Pleasant Historical Society

342 Union St, Mt Pleasant, OH

Established in 1803 by Robert Carothers, an Irishman from Virginia, and Jesse Thomas, a Quaker from North Carolina. The town was a refuge for fugitive slaves and a welcome home for free blacks.

Mt Zion AME Church and Cemetery

Nathan and Polly Johnson House

New Castle Court House Museum

Orson Ames House

Owen Lovejoy House

E Peru St, Princeton, IL

Owned by Owen Lovejoy, an influential abolitionist to harbor slaves on their way north. The term "Lovejoy Line" was widely known in IL for fugitives passing through Princeton from slavery to freedom.

Plymouth Church

Prospect Bluff/Fort Gadsden

Putnam Underground Railroad Education Center

522 Woodlawn Ave, Zanesville, OH

Putnam is one of the oldest settlements in Ohio, established around 1800, and was home to prominent abolitionists as well as the location of two conventions of the Ohio Abolition Society.

Reuben Benedict House

463 County Rd 24, Marengo, OH

In 1812, Reuben Benedict, with his wife, Anna and their 12 children, migrated from New York to Ohio and established the first Quaker settlement of Morrow County, Ohio along Alum Creek.

Rokeby Museum

4334 US-7, Ferrisburgh, VT

From 1793 to 1961, Rokeby was home to four generations of the Robinsons family who welcomed a large and diverse group of relatives, fugitive slaves, domestic servants and farm workers into their home.

Rush R. Sloane House

403 East Adams Street Sandusky, Ohio

Built in the early 1850s and home to Rush R. Sloane, lawyer, abolitionist, and Underground Railroad participant. One of his more well-known protests occurred in 1852 when he defended 7 runaway slaves.

Samuel and Sally Wilson House

1502 Aster Pl, Cincinnati, OH

Samuel and Sally Wilson were strong abolitionists who moved to College Hill by 1849. The abolitionist efforts of three of their children, Mary Jane, Harriet, and Joseph are documented in many sources.

Second Baptist Church of Detroit

441 Monroe Ave, Detroit, MI

Houses Michigan's first African American congregation established in 1836, when 13 former slaves decided to leave the First Baptist Church because of its discriminatory practices.

Spring Hill Historic Home

342 Union St, Mt Pleasant, OH

Built in 1821, Spring Hill first served as the home of Thomas and Charity Rotch, a Quaker couple from New England involved in the Underground Railroad.

St. James AME Zion Church

116 Cleveland Ave, Ithaca, NY

The oldest original church structure in Ithaca, New York, built in 1833. Expressed its antislavery sentiments through its pastors, such as Thomas James who provided assistance to fugitive slaves.

Starr Clark Tin Shop

Tabor City Park

Tabor, IA

The town was first settled in 1852 by George B. Gaston and Rev. John Todd.  They sought to create a frontier colony and were both adamantly opposed to slavery.

The Hill-Ross Farm

The Rankin House

6152 Rankin Road, Ripley, OH

Owned by Rev. John Rankin. The Rankin family was proud of never having lost a "passenger". Most of the 2,000 escaped slaves who traveled through Ripley stayed with the Rankins.
 

The Stone Academy

115 Jefferson Street, Zanesville Ohio

Located in the Putnam Historic District. In the 1830's, it was the center of abolitionist activity in Putnam. Constructed in 1809 and designed to serve as the new state capitol building.

The Wayside

Theodore Roosevelt Island

Theodore Roosevelt Island, Washington, DC

Formerly called Mason Island, it is now known as Theodore Roosevelt Island due to the former president's massive statue. The island used to be a popular spot for freed slaves and hidden refugee camp.

Todd House

Park St, Tabor, IA

Rev. John Todd's house, a two-story, clapboard home built in 1853, was an established Underground Railroad stop and perhaps the most significant "hub" on the Underground Railroad in Western Iowa.

Washington County Historical Society - The LeMoyne House

49 E Maiden St, Washington, PA

Built in 1812 by John Julius LeMoyne, the father of Francis Julius LeMoyne. In 1834, LeMoyne joined the Washington Anti-Slavery Society and was the organization's president from 1835 to 1837.

White Horse Farm

54 S White Horse Rd Phoenixville, Pennsylvania

Also known as the Elijah F. Pennypacker House. The original section was built around 1770. In 1840, Pennypacker opened his home as a major stop on the Underground Railroad. 

William Lloyd Garission House

66 Phillips St, Boston, MA

This was the residence of newspaper editor and abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison from 1864 until his death in 1879. The house is now part of the Emmanuel College campus. 

Wilmington Friends Meeting

Wilson Bruce Evans House

33 East Vine Street Oberlin, Ohio

The home of Wilson Bruce Evans, a leading black abolitionist. He and his brother Henry Evans were participants in the well-known 1858 Oberlin-Wellington Rescue.