The Underground Railroad in Central Ohio

The Underground Railroad was a system of routes and safe houses created to help freedom-seeking enslaved people escape the South and eventually settle into Northern “free” states, Canada or Mexico. Railroad terms were used because people seemed to disappear – no railroads or underground tunnels were actually used. Conductors were usually waiting with either a horse or wagon, hiding the freedom seekers under straw or bags of grain, to move them to the next station. Some conductors would take freedom seekers into their homes, hiding them in crawl spaces, barns, cisterns and even under floor boards.