African American Historic Places

0: Introduction

Northeast African American Historic Places Map
Welcome to the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s map of African American historic places in the Northeast. The historic sites on this map come from all ten of the region’s states, from Maine to Delaware, and represent a range of historical topics and themes, from slavery in the north to the origins of jazz. This virtual tour will lead you to houses that once served as stops on the Underground Railroad, to one of the oldest African American cemeteries in the United States, and to the center of Portland Maine's 19th century black community, in addition to many others. Have fun learning about the Northeast's rich African American heritage as you explore these places and the compelling stories they tell. To use the map simply exit this window and double-click on one of the blue markers visible on the map below or in the folders to the left. By clicking on a placemark you will zoom to the site’s location and a window will open with an image and description of the site. A link to the organization’s webpage is provided for you to learn more about the site, including its hours of operation and entrance fees. If you wish to visit the site in person, click on the “to here” link at the bottom of the window for driving directions. This map was made possible by a generous grant from the 1772 Foundation. The Northeast Office of the National Trust extends its thanks to the 1772 Foundation and to the many individuals and organizations who eagerly contributed content for this project. The Northeast Office takes full responsibility for any errors or omissions contained herein. If you have questions or concerns pertaining to this project, please contact Brent Leggs at the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
National Trust for Historic Preservation	The 1772 Foundation
©2010 National Trust for Historic Preservation

1: Bush-Holley House Museum

About: The Bush-Holley House is the centerpiece of Bush-Holley Historic Site on Cos Cob Harbor in Greenwich, CT. A unique presentation provides visitors with two distinct time periods –the New Nation (1790-1825) and the Cos Cob Art Colony (1890-1920). Eight evocative, well-documented rooms help tell a story of change over time at the house, as well as the stories of the house’s many occupants.

The upstairs room of the back kitchen wing of the Bush house is interpreted as living quarters for the slaves who made up roughly half of the house’s occupants in 1820. Visitors can explore this room, and other spaces, on guided tours available in the afternoon on Wednesday through Sunday. Visit the Bush-Holley Historic Site’s website for more information.

Slave Quarters, Bush House Photos and text courtesy Bush-Holley House Museum

2: First Church of Christ, Congregational, 1652

About: The present Meetinghouse, the third, was completed in 1772. Since then, it has been a source of pride for the congregation and a source of study for architects and photographers interested in its graceful lines and beautiful steeple.

The church is historically significant for its role in establishing the first "Sabbath School" in the 1700's for the local Tunxis Indians, to teach them the ways of Christianity. In addtion, it was a hub of the Underground Railroad, and housed the slaves of the Amistad during the first civil rights case in the United States. Cinque Pieh, leader of the Amistad revolt, preached from its pulpit.

First Church of Christ, 1772 Photos and text courtesy First Church of Christ

3: Mary and Eliza Freeman Houses

About: The Mary & Eliza Freeman Houses ( built ca. 1848) - listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places - are the only surviving homes in Bridgeport, CT's "Little Liberia" (originally Ethiope), a seafaring community of free people of color. Constructed the very year that Connecticut abolished slavery, they are the oldest homes built and owned by Blacks in the state. They provide irreplaceable evidence of African American life prior to emancipation and the Civil War. The Freeman Houses, relatively unchanged, stand on their original foundations.

As endangered properties, both houses are currently the focus of a preservation effort headed by representatives from local nonprofit organizations and the city. The goal is to restore the homes to their nineteenth-century form and use them as venues for education and research on Bridgeport's African American history.

Mary Freeman House Photos and text courtesy Action for Bridgeport Community Development

4: Prudence Crandall Museum

About: Prudence Crandall (1803-1890) opened an academy on the Canterbury Green in 1831 to educate daughters of wealthy local families. The school was extremely successful until the following fall when she admitted Sarah Harris, a 20 year old black woman, who hoped to become a teacher. Reflecting the attitudes of the times, Sarah's admittance to the academy led many parents to withdraw their daughters.

Miss Crandall made contacts throughout New England's free black communities to attract young black women students. They came from as far away as Boston, New York City and Philadelphia. The state responded by passing the "Black Law" which made it illegal for Crandall to operate her school. Miss Crandall was arrested, spent a night in jail, and faced three court trials. The case was dismissed in July of 1834. Two months later a mob attacked the school, forcing Crandall to close. The courage shown by Miss Crandall, our state's official heroine, features prominently in civil rights history. The "Black Law" was repealed in 1838.

The museum includes period rooms, changing exhibits, a small research library (available by appointment for in-house study) and a gift shop. The museum's first floor is fully accessible.

Prudence Crandall Museum Photos and text courtesy Prudence Crandall Museum

5: Cesar Peters House

About: The Peters House, located in Hebron, CT, is a "two-part" building. The eastern-most portion, the ell, is believed to have been built between 1750 and 1775. The main part of the house is believed to have been built in 1790.

Documentary research indicates that the seizure of the Peters family by southern slavetraders in September 1787 occurred at this property. Their Hebron neighbors rallied to save the family, reaching them within sight of the Norwich docks. Claiming that Cesar had taken clothes not yet paid for when he was abducted, the neighbors used the legal process to return the family to town, where they stood "trial" and were sentenced to two years' servitude. This was far too long for the slavetraders to wait, so they ended up leaving Connecticut without their property.

Peters House, rear view Photo courtesy CT Trust for Historic Preservation Text courtesy Hebron Historical Society

6: Harriet Beecher Stowe Center

About: The Harriet Beecher Stowe Center preserves and interprets Stowe's Hartford home and the Center's historic collections, promotes vibrant discussion of her life and work, and inspires commitment to social justice and positive change.

Stowe's best known novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852), changed how Americans viewed the institution of slavery. It resonates with an international audience as a masterful literary work and protest novel.

Harriet Beecher Stowe Visitor Center Photos and text courtesy Harriet Beecher Stowe Center

7: Amistad Memorial

About: This memorial commemorates the Amistad revolt of 1839 when a group of captive Africans took control of the vessel transporting them into slavery. They sailed up the eastern seaboard to Connecticut, where, after a lengthy legal battle supported by American Abolitionists, the Africans gained their freedom. They returned to their homeland in 1842.

Dedicated September 18, 1992, the memorial is located in front of the jail where the Amistad Africans were held captive during part of their stay in Connecticut. To learn more about the memorial click here.

Amistad Memorial Photo courtesy Ed Hamilton

8: Farmington Historical Society and Freedom Trail

About: Founded in 1954, the Farmington Historical Society is dedicated to preserving the town's history and educating the public about its significance. They sponsor exhibits, lectures and other events, and provide tours of the Freedom Trail's Underground Railroad and Amistad sites.

The society celebrates the diversity of all those who have contributed to the town's history—the Tunxis Indians who established the first settlement by the Farmington River; the English settlers who traded with the Indians; the fugitive slaves who sought freedom on the Underground Railroad; the abolitionists who gave them shelter; the 38 Africans who lived here in 1841 after gaining their freedom in the Amistad case; the entrepreneurs who constructed the Farmington Canal in the early 1880s; and the merchants and traders who built the stately homes lining Main Street in the historic village.

Freedom Trail marker and lantern Photos and text courtesy Farmington Historical Society

9: Connecticut Freedom Trail

About: Legislation authorizing the establishment of the Connecticut Freedom Trail was signed in August 1995. The trail officially opened in September of 1996 with 60 sites in 30 towns.

As of September 2007, there are over 100 sites in 42 towns on the Connecticut Freedom Trail. Included on the trail are sites associated with the Amistad Case of 1839-1842, buildings reported to have been used on the Underground Railroad, as well as numerous other homes and buildings that are associated with the heritage and movement towards freedom of Connecticut’s African American citizens. Administration of the trail is the responsibility of the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism and the Amistad Committee of New Haven.

Photos and text courtesy Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism

10: John Dickinson Plantation

About: Tours of the John Dickinson Plantation, home to one of the founding fathers of the United States and signer of the Constitution, utilize a technique known as "character interpretation" in which trained historic interpreters depict characters from John Dickinson's era. Character-interpreted tours enable visitors to compare and contrast lifestyles of the wealthy Dickinson family with those of tenants, poor whites, slaves, and free blacks residing in Kent County during the 1700s and early 1800s. The plantation also offers educational programs synthesizing historical data about slaves and free blacks residing on the plantation.

John Dickinson Plantation House Photos and text courtesy State of Delaware

11: St. Joseph's Center for Community Service

About: In 1896, the Josephite sect of the Catholic Church, which dedicated itself to assisting African Americans during post-reconstruction, established the St. Joseph’s Industrial School in Clayton, DE. The “boarding” school served to provide vocational, academic, and spiritual training to teens from inner cities from as far away as Chicago until 1972. The enrollment averaged about 70 students per year who could earn a high school diploma and learn trades such as machinery, printing, and farming.

Still standing today is St. Joseph’s Church, chapel to the industrial school. It was the first structure erected on the property in 1896, built with the help of the school’s first residents. St. Joseph’s Center for Community Service, the Foundation which now owns the property, is currenty restoring the structure and hopes to use it for a broad array of community service programs. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

St. Joseph's Chapel, exterior (above) Chapel Sanctuary (below) Photos and text courtesy St. Joseph's Center for Community Service

12: Ironhill School #112C Museum

About: The Iron Hill Museum is currently housed in what was originally a one-room schoolhouse. Iron Hill School 112c was one of 91 built by P.S. duPont in the 1920s for African Americans in Delaware. For over 40 years the Delaware Academy of Science has owned and operated this schoolhouse as a natural history museum.

The Iron Hill Museum is dedicated to the study of human and natural history of the Iron Hill Area. The Museum is currently engaged in a project to restore the Iron Hill School #112C and document the experiences of African American students who attended the school between 1923 and 1965.

Ironhill School #112C Museum Photos and text courtesy Ironhill School #112C Museum

13: Quaker Hill Historic District

About: This district dates back to the early 18th century, when Quakers such as William Shipley and Thomas West built the first residences in the area. During the Revolutionary War, Washington and Lafayette were quartered on Quaker Hill. Among those buried at Wilmington Friends Meeting are John Dickinson, signer of the Constitution, and Thomas Garrett, an abolitionist who worked with William Still and Harriet Tubman to conduct thousands of slaves to freedom. Several sites are associated with the Underground Railroad, including the Friends Meeting House and home of Elwood Garrett.

Friends Meeting Hall Photos and text courtesy Quaker Hill Historic Preservation Foundation

14: Abyssinian Meeting House

About: The Abyssinian Meeting House was the religious, educational and cultural center of Portland’s 19th century African American community. It is the earliest meetinghouse associated with a black congregation in Maine and is closely associated with local anti-slavery and abolitionist activity prior to and during the Civil War. Its members and preachers included former leaders of the Underground Railroad movement and outspoken advocates for the abolition of slavery. In the 1850s, the building housed a segregated public elementary school for black children. Meetings, concerts, dinners and entertainments made the Abyssinian Meeting House the center of community life for much of Portland’s African American population throughout the19th century.

In 2004, The City of Portland recognized the structure as historically significant and in 2006 it was included in the National Register of Historic Places. The Meeting House has since been named as a National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom site by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

The Committee to Restore the Abyssinian, a private non-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization, is the sole owner of the Abyssinian Meeting House. With public and private support, the Committee plans to restore the meetinghouse to its documented 19th century appearance and to utilize the building for educational programs and exhibits of local history and African American culture.

Abyssinian Meeting House Photos and text courtesy Committee to Restore the Abyssinian Meeting House

15: Malaga Island

About: Malaga Island was home to a mixed race fishing community from the mid-1800s until 1912, when the residents were forcibly removed by the State of Maine. Maine Coast Heritage Trust has been working with various partners in recent years, including the University of Southern Maine, to better understand the island's archaeological history and to help share this unfortunate story from Maine's history.

Recreational visitors can explore the island by landing at the beach on the northern shore, then walking a nearly one-mile long loop trail that explores the island's forested interior. A spur trail leads to scenic ledges at the south end of the island, which afford a panoramic view of eastern Casco Bay.

Malaga Island Photos and text courtesy Maine Coast Heritage Trust

16: Portland Freedom Trail

About: The Portland Freedom Trail takes visitors to sixteen of the city's most significant African American historic sites. Included on this self-guided walking tour are sites attesting to Portland's role in the abolition movement and Underground Railroad, and to the development of the city's African American community. The tour guide can be downloaded for free by clicking here.

The trail represents the first project of Maine Freedom Trails, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to establishing a network of marked sites across the state that acknowledge individual, organizational, and community participation in the Underground Railroad and abolitionist movement.

Commemorative Marker at corner of Congress and Mountford Streets Photo and text courtesy Portland Freedom Trail

17: Museum of African American History

About: The African Meeting House on Beacon Hill was built in 1806 and remodeled in the 1850s in what once was the heart of Boston's 19th century African American community. It is the oldest black church edifice still standing in the United States. The facade of the meeting house is an adaptation of a design for a townhouse published by Boston architect Asher Benjamin.

In addition to its religious and educational activities, the meeting house became a place for celebrations and political and anti-slavery meetings. On January 6, 1832, William Lloyd Garrison founded the New England Anti-Slavery Society here. In the larger community this building was referred to as the Black Faneuil Hall.

At the end of the 19th century, when the black community began to migrate from the West End to the South End and Roxbury, the building was sold to a Jewish congregation. It served as a synagogue until it was acquired by the Museum of African American History in 1972. Its interior has since been restored to its known 1854 design.

African Meeting House Photos and text courtesy Museum of African American History

18: African American Sites in Historic Deerfield

About: Like many New England towns and cities, where slavery was integral to the colonial economy, Deerfield was once a slave-owning community. 16 out of the 42 households along Deerfield's mile-long main street had enslaved Africans in the middle of the 18th century. Many others bartered with their neighbors for use of slave labor. Little is known about the lives of the more than 100 African Americans who lived and worked throughout Deerfield between 1695 and the 1780s. Who were they? What were their lives like? How can we find out more? How can we remember them?

To help answer these questions, the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association (PVMA) has constructed an interactive map that identifies sites where enslaved and free African Americans lived and worked in Deerfield. Visitors to PVMA’s website may utilize the map to explore and learn from these places and the stories they tell.

19: Sojournor Truth Memorial

About: Sojourner Truth, a former slave who lived in Florence, MA in the Mid-1800s, was a nationally known advocate for equality and justice. A group of citizens from Florence came together in the late 1990's to create a memorial statue and site honoring her life and work. The memorial was dedicated in fall 2002 and is open to the public at no charge.

Statue of Sojournor Truth Photo courtesy Sojourner Truth Memorial Statue Committee

20: Royall House and Slave Quarters

About: The Royall House and Slave Quarters is a unique, two-building site that includes: a significant Georgian mansion and the only extant slave quarters in the North. Together, the two buildings vividly illustrate the lives of the Royalls and the enslaved Africans who lived here over two and a half centuries ago.

The site is the last remnant of a 500 acre estate owned by the very wealthy Isaac Royall family, Loyalists and slaveholders in Colonial Massachusetts. The buildings offer a unique portal into eighteenth-century life, particularly the intertwined stories of the Royalls and the enslaved Africans who made their lifestyle possible. More broadly, the site is highly instructive on the practices of Colonial slavery and its relationship to eighteenth-century society, the American Revolution, and subsequent reverberations in American history.

Royall House Slave Quarters Photos and text courtesy Royall House Association

21: Leavitt House, Greenfield Public Library

About: Present home of the Greenfield Public Library, the Leavitt House was built in 1797 by Asher Benjamin as a home for lawyer Jonathan Leavitt and his wife, Amelia. It soon earned the title of social villa, center for a new and largely Federalist village society. Jonathan, circuit Judge of Common Pleas, was a member of the prominent family which spearheaded the crusade for evangelical social reform in western Massachusetts. Amelia was the daughter of minister Ezra Stiles, the first President of the Connecticut Society for the Promotion of Freedom.Their Main Street household included several African Americans, whose legal status is uncertain. Nevertheless, the Leavitt House, with its multi-racial household and family and social ties, represents a significant part of the grass roots anti-slavery activity in western Massachusetts from the 1830s to the 1850s.

To download a booklet and tour about anti-slavery activity in Greenfield click here.

Leavitt House, now Greenfield Public Library Photos and text courtesy of Marcia Starkey, chair Greenfield Historical Commission

22: Upper Housatonic Valley African American Heritage Trail

About: The African American Heritage trail (AAHT) encompasses 29 Massachusetts and Connecticut towns in the Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area, and celebrates African Americans in the region who played pivotal roles in key national and international events, as well as ordinary people of achievement. Among the key 48 sites along the trail are the W. E. B. Du Bois Boyhood Homesite, a National Landmark property in Great Barrington; the Samuel Harrison House in Pittsfield, home of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment chaplain who protested discriminatory pay practices; and a center at the Col. Ashley House in Sheffield to study Elizabeth 'Mumbet' Freeman and other South Berkshire County African Americans.

Church outing by Rev. Chauncey Hatfield of the Clinton A. M. E. Zion Church in Great Barrington, c. 1894-96 Photo courtesy of Gary Leveille Collection at Great Barrington Historical Society. Text courtesy of Upper Housatonic African American Heritage Trail.

23: Col. John Ashley House

About: Owned and operated by the Trustees of Reservations, the Ashley House tells the intertwined stories of the Ashleys and the enslaved African Americans who lived here in the eighteenth century.

Col. John Ashley built the house in 1735, and spent the next decades accumulating wealth and land. By the time of his death in 1802, Ashley owned more than 3,000 acres. Ashley supported the American Revolution, heading a committee that wrote the fiery Sheffield Resolves, a petition against British tyranny and manifesto for individual rights, in 1773. His financial success was based in part on the labor of five enslaved African Americans.

Inspired by Revolutionary-era rhetoric and her own desire for freedom, Mum Bett, who was enslaved in the Ashley House, helped end slavery in Massachusetts. In 1781, she sued Col. Ashley for her freedom – and won. Mum Bett was and remains an inspiration to all who learn her story.

Today, the Ashley House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and an anchor site on the Upper Housatonic Valley African American Heritage Trail. It contains fine collections of redware, furniture, and tools. The Ashley House is adjacent to Bartholomew’s Cobble Reservation, which offers five miles of scenic trails.

Col. John Ashley House Photos and text courtesy the Trustees of Reservations

24: W.E.B Du Bois Boyhood Homesite

About: A National Historic Landmark, the W. E. B. DuBois Boyhood Homesite is a public memorial to the Great Barrington native who became a leading scholar and activist in the civil rights movement in the United States and around the world. The site is owned and maintained by the University of Massachusetts - Amherst. Friends of the Du Bois Homesite is a community-based organization that supports the restoration, maintenance, stewardship and awareness of the site.

Trail and Signage at Dubois Boyhood Homesite Photos and text courtesy Friends of the Du Bois Homesite

25: Ceasar Robbins House

About: An inspiring African American community lived in Concord, MA during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. One of the remaining houses from that era is currently located at 324 Bedford Street. This building, the Robbins House, was home to several generations of one of Concord’s earliest African American families.

Caesar Robbins was enslaved in Concord until the Revolution, after which he lived on the edge of the Great Field with his wife Catherine, by approval of nearby landowner Humphrey Barrett. Two of their children, Peter Robbins and Susan Robbins Garrison, raised large families here. Caesar Robbins’ first house, pictured right, passed out of African American ownership at the end of the nineteenth century. Efforts are now underway to preserve this home.

The Robbins House is included on a self-guided African American and Abolitionist heritage tour developed by the "The Drinking Gourd Project," a non-profit organization dedicated to raising awarness about Concord's African American past. The tour guide can be downloaded here.

Ceasar Robbins House Photos and text courtesy Drinking Gourd Project

26: Jackson Homestead and Museum

About: The 1809 Jackson Homestead, part of Historic Newton, was the home of William Jackson, a politician, businessman, and abolitionist, whose daughter Ellen left a written account of the Homestead's use as a safe house for "freedom seekers."

Today, the building houses the nationally-accredited Jackson Homestead and Museum and is a site on the National Underground Railroad Millennium Trail. The Homestead is also a Library of Congress Local Legacy participant as a station on the Underground Railroad.The Jackson Homestead offers education programs that help teachers and students explore issues surrounding the Underground Railroad. "Songs and Stories of the Underground Railroad," "Underground Railroad: Passage to Freedom," and "Abolition: Examining the Evidence" are offered to students in grades 1-12 throughout the year.

Logo and text courtesy Historic Newton

27: Nathan and Polly Johnson House

About: Nathan and Polly Johnson, prominent African American abolitionists in New Bedford, sheltered escaped slaves in this Underground Railroad ‘station.’ It was here, in September 1838, that Frederick (bailey) Douglass found freedom, a new name, and with his wife Anna, his first home.

Owned and operated by the New Bedford Historical Society, the Nathan and Mary (Polly) Johnson Properties on Seventh Street have been designated a National Historic Landmark by the United States Department of the Interior because of the owners’ role in ante-bellum efforts to eradicate American slavery, and, in particular, their connection with famed abolitionist and orator Frederick Douglass.

Nathan and Polly Johnson House Photos and text courtesy New Bedford Historical Society

28: African American Heritage Trail of Martha's Vineyard

About: The African American Heritage Trail of Martha¹s Vineyard is comprised of 16 sites dedicated to the formerly unrecognized contributions made by people of African descent to the history of the island. A descriptive plaque is placed at each site.

The mission of the trail is to research and publish previously undocumented history and to involve the Island community in the identification and celebration of the contributions made by people of color to Martha's Vineyard. Presently, the Trail is anxious to acquire the former home of the Island's only African American Whaling Captain, William A. Martin (photo, top right).

Home of William A. Martin, early African American sea captain (top), Aunt Georgia’s House, historic inn for African Americans, now known as Tivoli Inn Photos and text courtesy of African American Heritage Trail of Martha's Vineyard

29: African Meeting House and Florence Higginbotham House

About: The Museum of African American History on Nantucket features two historic sites, the African Meeting House and the Florence Higginbotham House. These buildings were at the center of a thriving nineteenth-century African American community on the island.

The Museum presents cultural programs and interpretive exhibits on the history of African Americans on Nantucket, and makes the African Meeting House available for ceremonies and special events. A project to preserve and restore the Florence Higginbotham House is underway with generous support from the Community Preservation Committee of Nantucket and the Tupancy-Harris Foundation.

African American Meeting House (Top), Higginbotham House (Bottom) Photos and text courtesy Museum of African American History

30: Mount Auburn Cemetery

About: Since its founding in 1831, Mount Auburn Cemetery has retained its original purpose of being a natural setting for the commemoration of the dead and for the comfort and inspiration of the bereaved and the general public. Its grounds offer a place for reflection and for the observation of nature—trees, shrubs, flowering plants, ponds, gentle hills, and birds both resident and migrant. Visitors come to study our national heritage by visiting the graves of noted Americans and enjoying the unique works of art and architecture throughout the landscape. Mount Auburn began the “rural” cemetery movement out of which grew America’s public parks. Its beauty and historic associations make it an internationally renowned landscape. Designated a National Historic Landmark, Mount Auburn remains an active, non-sectarian cemetery offering a wide variety of interment and memorialization options.

Mount Auburn is the final resting place for several notable and significant African Americans including: Harriet Jacobs, freedom-seeker and author of the slave narrative Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself; printer and activist Benjamin Franklin Roberts, who brought suit against the City of Boston in 1848 to legally overturn segregation in its schools; George Lewis Ruffin, the first African American to graduate from Harvard Law School and the first African American appointed a judge in Massachusetts; and Clement Morgan, one of the founders of the NAACP. For the number of individuals now buried at the Cemetery who were actively involved in supporting the Underground Railroad, Mount Auburn was designated a site on the National Park Service’s Underground Railroad Network to Freedom program in 2006.

Peter Byus monument Photos and text courtesy Mount Auburn Cemetery

31: Reverend Samuel Harrison House

About: Samuel Harrison, was born into slavery in 1818 and found his way to Pittsfield in 1850 to become the eloquent pastor of the Second Congregational Church. His congregation was small but his work for black equality put him on the national stage. He lectured and debated in cities up and down the East Coast and as far away as Seattle. For the most part, Rev. Harrison's weapon was the pen rather than the sword. For more than 50 years he wrote passionate essays, pamphlets, sermons and books condemning racism on every level. In an age of lynchings and violent bigotry he feared no man and no man or institution was too big for him to challenge.

It is the mission of the Samuel Harrison Society to restore and preserve Reverend Harrison's homestead; use it as a place to teach the values embodied in his noble life, his enduring beliefs, his extraordinary writings; and to define a chapter in the story of us as a people by providing greater insight into African-American history.

Reverend Samuel Harrison House Photos and text courtesy Samuel Harrison Society

32: Harriet Wilson Project Black Heritage Tour

About: In 1859, Harriet Wilson, a mulatto woman from New Hampshire, published a novel entitled Our Nig; or Sketches From the Life of A Free Black. This far-reaching work is famous for being the first novel published in the United States by an African American woman.

The purpose of The Harriet Wilson Project is to raise awareness of Harriet Wilson and her literary work, to educate the public on her contributions to American history and American literature, and to publicly honor her for her accomplishments.

As part of this mission, the Harriet Wilson Project organizes a self-guided tour of Milford, NH featuring sites that tell the story of Harriet Wilson and her surrounding community. The tour guide can be downloaded here.

Harriet Wilson Memorial Bicentennial Park, Milford, NH Photo and text courtesy Harriet Wilson Project

33: Langdon House and Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail

About: Portsmouth, NH has been home to Africans and African Americans for more than 350 years. The Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail guide takes the reader to a selection of 24 sites where Portsmouth’s black residents lived, worked, prayed and celebrated from the seventeenth century through the Civil Rights Movement of the twentieth century. It tells stories omitted from three centuries of white historical narrative. The Langdon House is site #14 on the trail.

Langdon House, headquarters of Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail Photos and text courtesy PBHT

34: George Kimball House

About: When Noyes Academy was established in Canaan in 1834, it was the first upper level, coed integrated school in the country. Here African American students found warm and caring people who believed in the education of blacks and whites.They enjoyed months of equality, both in the classroom and in the social environment. Anti-abolitionists eventually destroyed the school and the students were sent back to their homes, but the short time they had at Noyes Academy was seared in their memories and those memories sustained them. What they learned, academically and socially, led a number of the students to further advanced schooling and long careers of service.

George Kimball was a trustee of the academy and hosted the male students in his house during their stay at the school. His house is the last remaining connection that we have to Noyes Academy and its illustrious students. The Canaan Historical Society hopes to save the George Kimball House to preserve the memory of the Academy's students and incorporators.

George Kimball House Photos and text courtesy Canaan Historical Society

35: Hinchliffe Stadium

About: Hinchliffe Stadium (1932), a grand concrete oval planted majestically above the Great Falls in Paterson, NJ, was placed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places in 2004. It has a permanent niche in the nation's sports and social history as one of a handful of extant stadiums that were home to professional black sports during the so-called "Jim Crow" era. At a time when baseball was an indisputable game of greats, Hinchliffe featured some of the greatest ballplayers in America, players who ironically had no access to the major leagues.

Hinchliffe Stadium Today Photos and text courtesy Friends of Hinchliffe Stadium

36: T. Thomas Fortune House

About: Timothy Thomas Fortune was an important African American journalist and activist during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Born into slavery in Florida in 1856, Fortune gained his freedom and attended Howard University before moving to New York City in 1881. In 1901, Fortune moved his family to Red Bank's Westside neighborhood, a well-established segregated black community, where Fortune bought a twelve room, Second Empire style home a short walk from the train station. Sitting on a one-acre-plus lot surrounded by shade trees and an apple orchard, the house had been built around 1883.

The T. Thomas Fortune House is the only National Historic Landmark associated with African American history in the state of New Jersey. Despite its significance, the house is currently at risk of demolition. Because of this threat, it was named to New Jersey's Most Endangered Properties List in 2007 and the Red Bank Historic Preservation Commission was formed to organize support for the preservation of the house.

T. Thomas Fortune House Photo courtesy of George Bowden, Redbank Preservation Commission, text courtesy of Preservation New Jersey

37: Historical Society of Princeton, Bainbridge House

About: The Historical Society of Princeton (HSP) is dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of all aspects of Princeton’s history. The stories of Princeton’s African American community are explored through HSP’s collections, programs, and exhibitions. Photographic and manuscript collections help illustrate the lives of such individuals as Paul Robeson, Christine Moore Howell, and Rex Goreleigh, and secular and religious organizations, including the Witherspoon YMCA and the Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church. Visitors to HSP’s website can download the self-guided version of the Albert E. Hinds Memorial Walking Tour: African-American Life in Princeton and read a brief overview of the history of the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood.

Witherspoon YMCA Membership Drive, c. late 1940s Photos and text courtesy of Princeton Historical Society

38: Shady Rest Golf and Country Club

About: The Shady Rest Golf and Country Club in Scotch Plains has local, state, and national significance as the first African American owned and operated country club in the United States. It has added significance as the home course of the first African American golf professional to play in a U.S. Open, John Matthew Shippen (1879-1968).

In 2008, Shady Rest was listed to Preservation New Jersey’s 10 Most Endangered sites list due to the threat of demolition facing the site.

Golfers on an Outting at Shady Rest Photos and text courtesy Preservation New Jersey

39: Chicken Bone Beach

About: African Americans who wished to enjoy the beach in Atlantic City, NJ during the period from 1900 through the early 1950s were socially restricted to the Missouri Avenue area. As thousands of vacationing black families flocked to the shore, often with chicken laden picnic hampers, the strip became affectionately nicknamed “Chicken Bone Beach”. The visits of major black entertainers such as Sammy Davis Jr., Jackie “Moms” Mabley and the World Famous Club Harlem showgirls enhanced this block party atmosphere of family fun and enjoyment. Nationally known figures such as Josephine Baker and Martin Luther King Jr. also visited Chicken Bone Beach. Casinos changed the culture of beach bathers in the late 1970s by remaking Atlantic City into a world-class resort. On August 6th, 1997, the Atlantic City Council passed an ordinance declaring “Chicken Bone Beach” a local historical landmark. Chicken Bone Beach survives today as a symbol of African American community.

Chicken Bone Beach Historical Foundation was incorporated in January of 2000. The organization’s mission is to create pride in African American Heritage and to promote family values and unity in Atlantic County through the celebration of African American History at historic Chicken Bone Beach.

Chicken Bone Beach, ca. 1950 Photos and text courtesy Chicken Bone Beach Historical Foundation

40: Peter Mott House and Lawnside Historical Society

About: The Peter Mott House is the oldest known house in the village of Lawnside, NJ. Built ca. 1845, the house was residence to Peter Mott, an African American preacher who was the first Sunday school superintendent at Mount Pisgah African Methodist Episcopal Church in Lawnside, and his wife, Eliza. Before emancipation, the house served as a stop along the Underground Railroad. Today, the Peter Mott House is listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places as a rare surviving example of a free black homestead in a historically black community, and as a documented stop on the Underground Railroad.

The Lawnside Historical Society is a non-profit organization founded in 1990 to protect, preserve and maintain the Peter Mott House and to promote the legacy of the historically African American municipality of Lawnside, NJ.

Peter Mott House Photos and text courtesy Lawnside Historical Society

41: Franklin Street School

About: The Franklin Street School is a New Jersey African American historic site and a contributing building to the Cape May National Historic District. It is one of the last remaining structures in the state to have served as a segregated school for African American children. It is also one of the few remaining buildings which testifies to a once-vibrant African American community in Cape May.

The period of significance for the School is between 1927, when its construction began, and 1948, when segregation in New Jersey's public schools was banned by a new state constitution. In 2002, the Center for Community Arts (CCA) acquired a 25-year lease on Franklin Street School from the City of Cape May. Since then, CCA has been grooming the historic building for its re-emergence as the Franklin Street School Community Cultural Center

Franklin Street School, ca. 1920s Photos and text courtesy Center for Community Arts

42: Carpenter Street School

About: A rare antebellum survivor, the Old Carpenter Street School may be New Jersey's oldest existing schoolhouse built for African Americans. It is also the oldest surviving structure associated with the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Woodbury, a congregation founded in 1817. Built by Joseph Tatum in the vernacular Gothic Revival style in 1840 (with modifications in 1870 and 1930), the small frame building became a public school in 1881. Eight years later, a larger schoolhouse was built a block away, and the Old Carpenter Street school became a parish house.

Carpenter Street School Photos and text courtesy New Jersey Historic Trust

43: Moses D. Heath Farm

About: A unique reminder of the African American legacy in New Jersey, the Heath Farm was founded by patriarch Clinton Pearson Heath, a former slave, in the post-Civil War years. Visitors to the farm today enjoy historic exhibits, period artifacts, and events related to 19th century farming and history.

44: Court Street School Education Community Center

About: Court Street School is one of the principle structures associated with the segregated history of early twentieth century education for African Americans in Freehold, NJ. The original school was organized by the Freehold Board of Education, in 1915, exclusively for the education of African American children. It was a one-room wooden building located just west of the present site.

The existing school was constructed in two phases in 1920 and 1926. All African American children in Freehold were educated at Court Street School from kindergarten through eighth grade until World War II, when the school was used as an air raid shelter and a ration station. Under pressure from war veterans, a court order integrated the school and it reopened for kindergarten through third grade in 1949. The school finally closed in 1974.

In 1990, the Court Street School Education Community Center, Inc. was formed as a nonprofit organization to restore the school for use as a community center and to preserve it as an African American historic landmark. In 1995, the building became an official historic site in the state of New Jersey, and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Court Street School Photos and text courtesy CSSECC

45: Seth Gates House

About: The home of Seth M. Gates after his retirement from the United States Congress, this building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is now the home of the Warsaw Historical Society. Seth Gates was a prominent foe of the slave interests in Congress and had a bounty of $500 offered on him in the South. He was also listed as a "conductor" on the Underground Railroad although there is no documented evidence that the house ever sheltered escaping slaves. The Gates House was also the meeting place for the Grand Army of the Republic, a fraternal organization for Civil War Veterans. The collections of the Historical Society also include the original chairs of the GAR and its songbooks.

Seth Gates House Photos and text courtesy Warsaw Historical Society

46: East End African American Museum and Center for Excellence

About: The former site of Randy’s Barbershop, an important landmark in Southampton’s local black community and in the village as a whole, this property was purchased in 2006 for use as a museum of Long Island’s African American history. Although not yet open to the public, the structure is now the focus of a rehabilitation project aimed at establishing the East End African American Museum and Center for Excellence (EEAAMCE). The group behind this effort currently hosts a black film festival and other educational programs to support their cause.

Randy's Babershop, future home of EEAAMCE Photos and text courtesy EEAAMCE

47: Nash House Museum

About: The house at 36 Nash Street has a very special place in the 20th century history of Buffalo's African American community. From 1925 until 1987, the residence was the home of the Rev. J. Edward Nash, Sr. family. Rev. Nash was the pastor of the Michigan Avenue Baptist Church from 1892 until his retirement in 1953. His widow continued to occupy the home after his death in 1957.

Rev. Nash's leadership and presence in Buffalo's African-American community during the first 50 years of the 20th century earned him legendary status in that community. During most of that period he was the most widely known and respected African American in the city. Among his numerous roles, Rev. Nash was involved in efforts to bring branches of the Urban League and the NAACP to Buffalo and was a long-time leader and treasurer of the Western New York Baptist Association. For 32 years he was secretary of the Ministers Alliance of Buffalo, one of the most influential religious groups in the city...continue reading

Today, the Nash House is operated as a museum by the Michigan Street Preservation Corporation. Tours are available by appointment on Thursdays and Saturdays.

Rev. J. Edward Nash, Sr. House Photos and text courtesy of Nash House Museum

48: St. Augustine's Project, Inc.

About: The St. Augustine Project, a non-profit organization run primarily by volunteers, dedicates itself to the restoration and preservation of the slave galleries at St. Augustine’s Church in New York's Lower East Side.

Erected in 1828, St. Augustine’s Church, the oldest building on the block, gained landmark status more than a decade ago. The slave galleries are two rooms hidden in the upper reaches of the church, designed in a harsh era of racial segregation during the decline of slavery in New York. These rooms, just above the balcony and mainly out of sight, were intended for African American congregants, servants and perhaps even visitors, and may have been so used for years after slavery ended.

Church Interior, View from Slave Gallery Photos and text courtesy of St. Augustine Project, Inc.

49: Susan B. Anthony House

About: The Susan B. Anthony House shares the story of Susan B. Anthony’s lifelong struggle to gain voting rights for women and equal rights for all. Tours of her historic home highlight Anthony's anti-slavery activities, including her friendship with Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison, and her work as an agent for the American Anti-Slavery Society. A National Historic Landmark, the museum maintains a collection of artifacts and research materials directly related to Anthony’s life and work.

Susan B. Anthony House Photos and text courtesy of Susan B. Anthony House Museum

50: John Coltrane House

About: Located roughly 30 miles from Manhattan, on Long Island, in the Town of Huntington, the Dix Hills community was considered “out in the country” in 1964.

Sitting on 3.4 wooded acres in this community is a once beautiful brick and wood frame “Farm Ranch” home. American jazz musician John Coltrane lived here on this quiet residential street during the last years of his life. In his home he composed his greatest work, “A Love Supreme,” as well as all of his last works, considered by many to be his greatest. The house includes four bedrooms, an expansive living room, a studio in the basement and a practice room above the garage.

In 2006, the house was purchased by the Town of Huntington and given to the “Friends of the Coltrane Home,” a non-profit organization founded specifically to support the home. After being restoration, the house will be opened as a museum featuring artifacts from Coltrane's life and work.

John Coltrane House Photos and text courtesy Friends of the Coltrane House

51: Booker T. Washington House

About: This secluded, two-story house served as Booker T. Washington’s summer retreat in the years leading up to his death in 1915. Washington was a former slave, who, after emancipation, went on to become a renowned civil rights activist, writer, and educator. He founded the Tuckegee Institute, presently Tuskegee University, and was the first African American invited to White House by a U.S. President.

Today, the house sits on a private lot off Cousins Street in Fort Salonga, NY. A historical marker was recently unveiled along the street to commemorate the house’s landmark status and historical significance.

Booker T. Washington House Photos and text courtesy Friends of the Booker T. Washington House

52: Michigan Street Baptist Church

About: Home to one of the oldest black Baptist congregations in the United States, the Michigan Street Church was erected in 1845 and served as a center for Buffalo’s African American community until 1962. The building was a stop on the Underground Railroad in the years prior to the Civil War. Fugitive slaves were hidden in the basement of the church before being ferried across the Niagara River to Canada in the darkness of night.

The Michigan Street Baptist Church was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and is currently being restored as a community landmark by the Michigan Street Preservation Corporation.

Michigan Street Baptist Church Photos and text courtesy of Michigan Street Preservation Corp.

53: King Manor Museum

About: King Manor takes its name from Rufus King, a member of the Continental Congress, a framer and signer of the Constitution, one of the first senators from New York State, ambassador to Great Britain under four presidents, and an outspoken opponent of slavery. In 1820, he delivered two of the most radical speeches heard in the Senate before the Civil War. His opposition to the admission of Missouri as a slave state marked the apogee of his long antislavery career.

Today, the museum’s programs focus on the roles of Rufus and John Alsop King in the early antislavery movement, and life and work at King Manor in the nineteenth century.

King Manor Photos and text courtesy Historic House Trust New York City

54: Philipsburg Manor

About: Vistors to Philipsburg Manor are taken back in time to 1750, when the property was a farming, milling, and trading center owned by the Philipses, a family of Anglo-Dutch merchants. The family rented land to tenant farmers of diverse European backgrounds and relied on a community of 23 enslaved Africans to operate the complex, one of the largest slaveholdings in the north during the eighteenth century.

New interpretations of the site seek to explore the story of the diverse individuals who contributed to the making of this historic landscape. Interpreters in period costume invite you to stroll through the farm, with historic breeds of oxen, cows, sheep, and chickens. Participate in hands-on activities of the eighteenth century, and take in a theatrical vignette exploring the riveting yet little-known story of enslavement in the colonial north.

Manor Complex, facing north Photos and text courtesy Historic Hudson Valley

55: Oswego County Freedom Trail

About: The Oswego County Freedom Trail Commission researches the involvement of the county’s historic residents in the Underground Railroad and abolition movement. The Commission’s website hosts a collection of stories and primary sources (including pictures, newspaper articles, letters, and diaries) about the Underground Railroad in Oswego County. Visitors are also encouraged to explore a listing of sites and places in the county possibly associated with abolitionism and the Underground Railroad.

56: Oneida County Freedom Trail

About: The Oneida County Freedom Trail Commission hosts a website containing information on numerous sites and individuals associated with the Underground Railroad in Oneida County.

57: Onondaga County Freedom Trail

About: The Onondaga County Freedom Trail takes visitors to 21 sites and places of importance to African American life, abolitionism, and the Underground Railroad in and around the city of Syracuse, NY. Examples include the Baptist Church in Borodino, where Fredrick Douglass spoke in 1849, and the site of the law offices of the first African American lawyer in New York State. Tour maps and information are available on Preservation Association of Central New York's Freedom Trail website.

58: Rochester-Monroe County Freedom Trail

About: The Rochester-Monroe County Freedom Trail Commission serves as the local authority in support of state and national efforts to document, protect and preserve sites and information pertaining to the Underground Railroad in the Rochester area.

Many Monroe County locations were used as safe-houses to shelter slaves before they were placed on boats to cross Lake Ontario. The primary Monroe County route was from Henrietta to Rochester. Better known stations in the area include the Henry Quinby farm by Mendon Ponds Park, the old Frederick Douglass home near Highland Park, and the Harvey Humphrey, Esp. house at 669 Genesee Street.

59: Mount Hope Cemetery

About: Mount Hope Cemetery is the first municipal Victorian cemetery in the U.S. The initial land purchase was in 1837 and the cemetery was dedicated in October, 1838. The property now consists of 196 acres and 14 miles of roads. There are over 350,000 interments, including a large percentage of the early pioneers that made Rochester a boom town and contributed to its designation as the "Flour City."

In addition, Mount Hope Cemetery is the final resting place of 2,100 Civil War participants including several members of United States Colored Troops, both men of color and white officers. Abolitionists involved in the Underground Railroad are also buried here, including Frederick Douglass; Susan B., Daniel, and Asa Anthony; Elias and Rhoda DeGarmo; Samuel and Susan Porter; and Isaac and Amy Post.

60: Town of Huntington African American Historic Designation Council

About: The council assists the Town of Huntington in identifying and researching local historic sites having ties to African American heritage and explores the many undiscovered locations in the town which deserve to be celebrated and protected. The council also engages in the significant task of ensuring proper recognition of all sites that hold historical value to African American history in the town. Lastly, the council locates and researches important areas, which have been key to the legacy of African Americans in Huntington, and makes recommendations where appropriate, for landmark designation under the Town Code.

Bethel A.M.E Church, oldest African American church in Huntington Photo and text courtesy Town of Huntington

61: Apollo Theater

About: It all started in 1914 when the theater was constructed on 125th Street, the heart of Harlem. Originally, it was named Hurtig and Seamon’s New Burlesque Theatre and African Americans were not allowed in the audience. In 1934, Ralph Cooper, Sr. decided to do a live version of his already popular radio show, Amateur Nite Hour at the Apollo, at the theater. Ella Fitzgerald, who invented the vocal technique known as "SCAT", was one of the first Amateur Night winners. That same year, Cooper, Benny Carter and “16 Gorgeous Hot Steppers” dazzled the crowds with the theater’s first “Colored Revue.”

Then in 1935, Bessie Smith made her Apollo debut followed by an unknown vocalist by the name of Billie Holiday who graced the Apollo stage and mesmerized the audience with her undeniable style and talent. Soon thereafter, the Apollo Theater became known as the place “Where Stars are Born and Legends are Made.” The legendary venue has launched the careers of icons such as Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, James Brown and Lauryn Hill and continues to maintain its position as the nation's most popular arena for emerging and established African American and Latino performers.

Apollo Theater Entrance Photos and text courtesy Apollo Theater Foundation

62: Johnson Hall State Historic Site

About: William Johnson was an influential landowner in New York’s Mohawk Valley during the mid-to-late eighteenth century. His genius in dealing and trading with the Indians had a lasting impact on their relationship with the English, and influenced England's victory in the struggle for control of North America. Johnson was also the largest slave holder in the colony of New York during this period. Site managers are currently working to restore the 18th century stone house and plan to use the space to provide programs interpreting slavery at Johnson Hall.

Johnson Hall Photos and text courtesy Johnson Hall State Historic Site

63: Fort Edward Historical Association and Museum

About: This house was constructed in 1772 with wood from the old fort in Fort Edward and served as a private home, tavern, boarding house, court, and military headquarters for both the Patriots and Loyalists during Revolutionary War. Solomon Northup, author of 12 Years a Slave, who was kidnapped and sold into slavery, resided here with his wife and first born child for three years, beginning in 1829.

Old Fort Edward House Museum Photos and text courtesy of Fort Edward Historical Association

64: Gerrit Smith Estate

About: The Gerrit Smith Estate was the lifetime home and office of Gerrit Smith (1797-1874), one of the most powerful abolitionists in the United States due to his liberal ideas and his wealth. Scores of abolitionists received support and renewed commitment to the cause of freedom at Smith’s home. Smith helped hundreds of African Americans by purchasing their freedom from slavery, arranging safe passage to Canada, helping families establish their lives locally, giving deeds to land, providing educational opportunities, and working for human rights. Due to Smith’s persuasive and exemplary efforts, Peterboro became a crossroads for human benevolence.

The Gerrit Smith Estate is designated as a National Historic Landmark. It is a National Park Service Network to Freedom Underground Railroad site, a Heritage NY Underground Railroad site, and also a Madison County NY Freedom Trail site.

View of Gerrit Smith's mansion in 1905, burned in 1936 (top), Gerrit Smith's Land Office, foreground, and Barn, background (bottom) Top photo courtesy Peterboro Area Museum, bottom photo courtesy Steve Joeckel, text courtesy Smithfield Community Association

65: Smithfield Community Center

About: Smithfield Community Center was built in 1820 as the Peterboro Presbyterian Church. The inaugural meeting of the New York State Anti-Slavery Society was held in this building, on October 22, 1835. On the previous day, the meeting had begun in Utica’s Bleecker Street Presbyterian Church, but eighty rioters – including men of standing in the community – attacked the church, forcing the meeting to disband. Gerrit Smith invited the entire assembly to reconvene in Peterboro. Over 400 abolitionists traveled through the night to Peterboro. Many came by canal boat to Canastota then walked the 10 miles up to Peterboro, where the residents opened their homes to house and feed the attendees. The meeting was resumed at the Peterboro Presbyterian Church, and the New York State chapter of the American Anti-Slavery Society was formed.

Under the leadership of Gerrit Smith, Peterboro became a center of antislavery activity and a busy stop on the Underground Railroad. Many men and women escaping slavery came through. Some went on to Canada and others chose to make Peterboro their home.

The Smithfield Community Center was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is a Heritage New York Underground Railroad site, a Madison County NY Freedom Trail site and the home of the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum.

Smithfield Community Center Photos and text courtesy of Steve Joeckel

66: Matilda Joslyn Gage Home and Foundation

About: The Matilda Joslyn Gage Home in Fayetteville, NY was offered as a station on the Underground Railroad during the nineteenth century. It is on the New York State Underground Railroad Heritage Trail and was accepted for inclusion in the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom in 2004.

In 1880, Gage wrote in her newspaper, The National Citizen and Ballot Box: “One of the proudest acts of my life; one that I look back upon with most satisfaction is that when Rev. Mr. Loguen [Syracuse conductor of the Underground Railroad] …went to the village of my residence to ascertain the names of those upon whom run-away slaves might depend for aid and comfort on the way to Canada, I was one of the two solitary persons who gave him their names. Myself and one gentleman of Fayetteville, were the only two persons who dared thus publicly defy ‘the law’ of the land, and for humanity’s sake rendered ourselves liable to fine and imprisonment in the county jail, for the crime of feeding the hungry, giving shelter to the oppressed, and helping the black slaves on to freedom.”

The Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation is dedicated to educating current and future generations about Gage’s work and its power to drive contemporary social change. They are in the process of restoring the Gage home.

Matilda Joslyn Gage Home Restoration Photos and text courtesy of Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation

67: Murphy Orchards

About: This site was the farmstead of abolitionists Charles and Anna Maria McClew, established in 1850. It is a recognized interpretive site of National Park Service Underground Railroad Network to Freedom and New York State Underground Railroad Heritage Trail. The farmhouse, barn, outbuildings, and the landscape itself remain very much as they would have appeared in 1850 and there are interpretive exhibits and educational video housed in the barn. Guided tours can be arranged by contacting the site directly.

The property is still a working fruit farm, with fresh produce available during growing season, and a Country Barn Store featuring jams and jellies made on site. Tearoom housed in the 1850 farmhouse is open year-round. The farm is open to the public from 9am until 6pm, 7 days a week, from May 1 until October 31, from 9am until 4pm, Tuesday through Sunday, November 1 until April 30.

Barn at Murphy Orchards, built by Abolitionist Charles McClew in 1850 Photos courtesy of Sally L. Johnson, Gasport, NY. Text courtesy of Murphy Orchards

68: Weeksville Heritage Center

About: Weeksville Heritage Center documents and preserves the history of the free and intentional nineteenth-century African American community of Weeksville. The Historic Hunterfly Road Houses (three historic houses, dating from 1840-1883) are the original community’s only remaining domestic structures. Weeksville creates programming that engages contemporary audiences with the history in meaningful ways, contextualizing their experience in order to make connections between Historic Weeksville and their own present-day lives. The organizational mission is to document, preserve and interpret the history of free African American communities in Weeksville, Brooklyn and beyond and to create and inspire innovative, contemporary uses of African American history through education, the arts, and civic engagement.

Weeksville Heritage Center’s Historic Hunterfly Road Houses Photos and text courtesy of Weeksville Heritage Center

69: Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims

About: Plymouth Church, located in the historic Brooklyn Heights district of New York City, was founded in 1847 during the peak years of the Underground Railroad. The church called as its first minister the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, thus beginning one of the most prominent ministries of 19th century America. Beecher’s forceful antislavery activities earned Plymouth its reputation as “the Grand Central Depot” of the Underground Railroad in New York. Abraham Lincoln worshipped at Plymouth on the eve of his landmark Cooper-Union address, and speakers hosted by the church in the years after the Civil War include Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth and, in 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr.

Plymouth Church continues to draw strength from its rich historic and Congregational heritage, serving the community with regular worship services, educational programs for children and adults, and charitable programs for those in need.

Plymouth Church Exterior Photos and text courtesy of Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims

70: North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association

About: The North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association (NCUGRHA) is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to the preservation, interpretation and promotion of the history of the Champlain Line of the Underground Railroad. The Champlain Line encompassed the geographical corridor through which Northeastern New York’s Waterways to Freedom flow - the Upper Hudson River, the Champlain Canal and Lake Champlain. Moses Roper, Lavinia Bell and Samuel R. Ward are three of the many who fled to freedom on these waterways.

NCURGHA is partnering with the Town of Chesterfield to establish a Visitor's Interpretive Center on the Lakes to Locks Passage and the Great Northeast National Scenic Byway. The center will breathe new life into the Estes House, a historic Victorian home at Ausable Chasm, NY. The Center will be the home of the North Star Underground Railroad Museum starting in 2010. NCUGRHA publishes a biannual Newsletter, the North Country Lantern, available here.

Estes House, future home of the NCUGRHA Photo and text courtesy of NCUGRHA.

71: Stephen and Harriet Myers Residence

About: This building, located at 194 Livingston Avenue, is significant as the one-time office of the Vigilance Committee of Albany, one of the most important Underground Railroad groups in the City of Albany. This committee was active from the early 1840s into the 1850s and helped hundreds of fugitive slaves escape through Albany on their way to freedom in the northern United States and Canada.

In addition, 194 Livingston is significant as the home of Stephen and Harriet Myers and their family. Stephen was Chairman of the Vigilance Committee during the 1850s and one of the most significant figures in Albany's Underground Railroad history. He actively assisted escaped slaves for nearly 30 years, beginning in 1831. Myers lived in the house during part of the period when he was chairman of the Vigilance Committee and maintained the group's office in the building at the same time. The building is currently being restored by the Underground Railroad History Project of the Capital Region, Inc. (URHPCR), a provisionally chartered New York State Historical Society.

Stephen and Harriet Myers Residence Photos and text courtesy of Underground Railroad History Project of the Capital Region, Inc.

72: Seward House Museum

About: Although best known for his later work (1861-1869) as U.S. secretary of state to Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, William Henry Seward was recognized as an abolitionist leader during his two-terms as governor of New York (1839-1843) and as a two-term U.S. senator. As senator (1849-1861) Seward led the abolitionist branch of the Whig Party and helped to shape the national debate on slavery in the years prior to the Civil War. His home in Auburn was one of several centers for Underground Railroad activity in Cayuga County.

The present day Seward House was built in 1816 by Judge Elijah Miller. William Henry Seward married Judge Miller’s daughter, Frances, in 1824, with the stipulation that they live with the judge in Miller’s home. Frances Miller Seward, a devout Episcopalian, was educated in Quaker schools and cared deeply for the abolition of slavery. While her husband served in Washington, DC throughout the 1850s and 1860s, Mrs. Seward oversaw the care of the Auburn home, sheltered fugitives and provided some educational opportunities for African Americans. The Sewards offered seven acres of farmland near Auburn to Harriet Tubman as a permanent home and were her strong supporters.

Sewerd House Photos and text courtesy Sewerd Housel Museum

73: Howland Stone Store Museum

About: The store was built in 1837 by Slocum Howland and is important as a graceful and virtually unaltered example of a simple Greek Revival cobblestone building. Slocum, who arrived in this area in 1798 with his parents, was a devoted Quaker, wool buyer and entrepreneur, anti-slavery advocate, local banker, large landowner, prohibitionist, and local leader. His daughter, Miss Emily, was avidly involved in women's rights, temperance, education, world peace, abolition, Political Equality clubs, and rights for African Americans. Members of the Howland family maintained the store for a hundred years.

The building served as a store from 1837 - 1881. When "The Block" next door was built, the cobblestone store was relegated to storage use. In 1942, it was renovated to accommodate a library and museum of the items that had been collected by Miss Emily and Isabel Howland, her niece, during their travels. For twenty-three years, Mrs. Alice Koon oversaw the library and museum; upon her death, the building and its contents were left to the Cayuga Museum in Auburn, NY. In 1987, the Cayuga Museum wished to divest itself of the Cobblestone Store, at which time the Friends of the Howland Stone Store was formed and accepted ownership.

Front Facade, Stone Store Museum Photos and text courtesy Stone Store Museum

74: Brooklyn Historical Society

About: Founded in 1863, the Brooklyn Historical Society is a nationally recognized urban history center dedicated to preserving and encouraging the study of Brooklyn's extraordinary 400-year history, including its African American past. Located in Brooklyn Heights and housed in a magnificent landmark building designed by George Post and opened in 1881, today's BHS is a cultural hub for civic dialogue, thoughtful engagement and community outreach.

Brooklyn Historical Society Photos and text courtesy Brooklyn Historical Society

75: Sandy Ground Historical Society

About: Founded in the early nineteenth century by freed black men from New York City, Sandy Ground is one of the oldest communities established by freed slaves in North America. The people who first settled here formed a farming community, which grew as free black oyster fishermen from Maryland and Delaware settled the region as well. Sandy Ground also served as an important stop on the Underground Railroad. Descendents of the original settlers still live in the area.

The Sandy Ground Historical Society runs a museum and library that examines the life and history of the free blacks who settled in the area prior to the Civil War. The Society maintains the largest documentary collection of African American culture and history on Staten Island and the museum also serves as an educational research facility chartered by the state Department of Education.

Quilt on Display at Sandy Ground Museum and Library Photos and text courtesy Sandy Ground Historical Society

76: Joeseph Lloyd Manor

About: Owned and operated by the Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities, Lloyd Manor (1766) is a handsome structure with fine interior woodwork by Connecticut craftsmen. Located in a spectacular setting overlooking Lloyd harbor, the grounds also contain a formal garden. The house is furnished to the 1793 inventory of John Lloyd II. In addition to the Lloyds, the Manor was also home to Jupiter Hammon, a slave who became the first published black poet. Interpretive exhibits explore the lives of the Lloyd's and their relationship to slavery.

Joeseph Lloyd Manor House Photos and text courtesy Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities

77: YWCA of Niagara

About: Since 1915 the YWCA of Niagara has devoted itself to eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all.

The structure, originally built in 1832 as a private residence, is believed to have been a stop on the Underground Railroad.

YWCA of Niagara Photos and text courtesy YWCA of Niagara

78: Louis Armstrong House Museum

About: Louis Armstrong (father of jazz, trumpet player, vocalist, actor, writer, and more) lived in this house from 1943 until his death in 1971. His widow Lucille continued to live in the house until her death in 1983. The house remains exactly as it was during the Armstrongs' years in it.

Today, the Louis Armstrong House Museum is open to the public, offering guided tours of Louis’s longtime home. On the tour, audio clips from Louis’s homemade recordings are played, and visitors hear Louis practicing his trumpet, enjoying a meal, or talking with his friends. Visitors also get to enjoy an exhibit on Louis’s life and legacy, and the Armstrongs’ beautiful Japanese-inspired garden.

Louis Armstrong House Photos and text courtesy Louis Armstrong House Museum