Every Stop Has A Story
We are walking nearly 1,000 miles on the Underground Railroad to help raise awareness about modern day slavery, better known as human trafficking. Each individual stop has its own story that you can read about below.
The Underground Railroad featured stops where those who were enslaved at the time were able to seek out freedom. However, slavery STILL exists, and these modern day slaves are also in need of ways to achieve freedom. There are ways that you can contribute to allowing these individuals to gain the freedom that they deserve. Are you willing to find out how you can be a part of the network to freedom?
SPECIAL NOTE: We appreciate the fact that so many people are interested in joining The FreeTHEM Walkers on their daily journey. We encourage you to follow them daily via social media. Due to Covid-19 precautions and other safety measures that have been put in place over a 2 year planning period, we are not allowing people to join us for the entire walk. However, we would be MORE that honored to have you join us at one of the major stops listed below at your own risk. Let's FreeTHEM.
Appomattox Court House
Train Arrives 5-4-2021
"On April 9, 1865, the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia in the McLean House in the village of Appomattox Court House, Virginia signaled the end of the nation's largest war. Two important questions about its future were answered. Could the nation survive a civil war intact, and would that nation exist without slavery? The answer to both was yes and a new nation was born."
White House of the Confederacy
Train Arrives 5-7-2021
"The White House of the Confederacy served as the Executive Mansion of the Confederacy from 1861 to 1865, when Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy. The mansion was the official quarters during the Civil War of the only President of the Confederate States of America, Jefferson Davis. From this house, Davis fled Richmond on April 3 1865, just before the April 9, 1865 surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox."
Fauquier History Museum at the Old Jail & THe Plains
Train Arrives 5-10-2021
This is a special location for the FreeTHEM Walkers as it's the last location that founder, Kelly Diane Galloway, a descendant of freedom seekers from the past, has been able to trace her family, former enslaved persons to. We hope to find answers in Warrenton.
Bucktown general store
Train Arrives 5-12-2021
In 1835, Bucktown was a busy community with two stores, a shopkeeper’s home, blacksmith shop, and surrounding farms at this crossroads. Shipyards were nearby on the Transquaking River.
Hired out to a nearby farmer, Harriet Tubman and the farm’s cook went to a store at this crossroads to purchase some goods for the house.
New Castle Court House
Train Arrives 5-15-2021
"Historic New Castle served as the colonial capital of Delaware until 1777 and provides valuable stories of our country's earliest settlers and founding fathers. This is the location where William Penn first landed in the New World in October 1682 and where four signers of the Declaration of Independence –George Read, Thomas McKean, George Ross, and Francis Hopkinson once lived."
tHE jOHNSON HOUSE
Train Arrives 5-17-2021
Johnson House Historic Site, Inc. is Philadelphia’s few accessible, intact historic site and stop on the Underground Railroad open for tours . During the 19th century, and for several generations beyond, the Johnson House was owned by a family of Quaker abolitionists who worked with other European Americans, and African Americans — free and enslaved – to secure safe passage to freedom along the extensive network of clandestine routes and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad.
Stephen and Harriet Myers Residence
Train Arrives 5-28-2021
An award winning Greek Revival Underground Railroad site recalling the anti-slavery activism of Stephen and Harriet Myers and their colleagues, the meetings of The Vigilance Committee, and the Freedom Seekers who stopped here to request assistance. Come experience history and its relevance for us today.
Harriet Tubman Residence
Train Arrives 6-2-2021
"After serving the Northern Army as a scout, spy, and nurse during the Civil War, Tubman returned to her home in Auburn/Fleming, NY which she had purchased in 1859 from then US Senator from NY, William Seward. At her residence, Tubman cared for family members, including her aging parents, and continued her humanitarian work taking in those in need of shelter, food, clothing, and medical attention."
African American Heritage Corridor
Train Arrives 6-19-2021
The time periods celebrated by the Michigan Street African American Heritage Area include the Abolitionist movement, the Civil Rights movement and several cultural and artistic renaissance periods.
The Heritage Corridor’s festivals, cultural events and artistic programming draw residents, national and international tourists, scholars and artists, writers, storytellers, poets, dancers, and actors to a thriving, community of historic urban scale.
niagara falls underground railroad heritage center
Train Arrives 6-20-2021
"The Heritage Center’s mission is to reveal authentic stories of Underground Railroad freedom seekers and abolitionists in Niagara Falls that inspire visitors to recognize modern injustices that stem from slavery and take action toward an equitable society."