Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

CHURCH CREEK, MD — The National Park Service’s National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom accepted the Underground Railroad Driving Tour of Cass County, produced by the Underground Railroad Society of Cass County, as one of more than 650 sites, programs and facilities within the network. It joins 12 new listings from the 40th round of Network to Freedom applications, representing sites and programs in eight states across the U.S. New listings were accepted in the final days of September, which represented International Underground Railroad Month in 11 states.

Twice per calendar year, the Network to Freedom reviews and accepts applications from sites, facilities, and programs with verified connections to the Underground Railroad.

“We have a unique opportunity to work with incredible people bringing little known stories to light,” said Diane Miller, national program manager.

The tour itself, first produced in 2011, highlights the role that local African Americans, Quakers and other abolitionists played in the Underground Railroad. One notable tour stop is the Steven Bogue House and Marker. A Network to Freedom site, the home marks where Hannah and Steven Bogue worked together to hide freedom seekers. In 1847, a group of slave catchers broke into several properties, including a cabin on the Bogue’s farm, capturing freedom seekers to return them to their enslavers. The 1847 Kentucky Slave Raid ensued, during which abolitionists from the community, including Steven Bogue, came together to free nine freedom seekers.

“I think people often don’t realize how many Underground Railroad stories are in their backyards,” Miller said. “I am eager to see how communities representing the new listings work together to continue to share these stories with the public.”

The tour stops are not all owned by the Underground Railroad Society of Cass County, and not all of them are open to the public.

Visit urscc.org in order to properly plan a trip.

The National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom serves to honor, preserve, and promote the history of resistance to enslavement through escape and flight, which continues to inspire people worldwide. The Network currently represents over 650 locations in 40 states, plus Washington D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Through its mission, the Network to Freedom helps to advance the idea that all human beings embrace the right to self-determination and freedom from oppression.