Ohio quickly became a stop on the Underground Railroad for southern slaves trying to make their way to Canada.
It’s is estimated that 40,000 slaves made their way through Ohio to Canada for freedom. Many did so by the cover of night and by hiding on the properties of families sympathetic to their cause, 10TV’s Tracy Townsend reported.
Central Ohio played a major role in the Underground Railroad.
“There were stops in Westerville, there were stops on Flint Road in Worthington,” Georgann Reuter of the Kelton House said. “If you follow the Olentangy River, as most runaways tried to follow water, if you follow that north.”
Reuter said that Columbus offered a number of different routes for runaway slaves.
“We pretty much know most places didn’t have trap doors or secret hiding places,” Reuter said. “Most runaways hid in barns, basements (and) attics.”
Several stops in central Ohio have turned into area landmarks, Townsend reported.
The Neil Mansion on The Ohio State University campus, the Margaret Agler House on Sunbury Road, The Caroline Brown House on East Livingston Avenue and the Southwick-Good and Fortkamp Funeral Home in Clintonville were previously stops on the Underground Railroad.
Mary Oellermann helps bring the stories of the Underground Railroad to life at the Kelton House.
She said that the museum at the Kelton House helps children and adults learn the hardships many people dealt with more than 150 years ago.
“What makes us unique is that we are the only stop on the Underground Railroad that is open continuously to the public,” Oellermann said.
The Kelton House offers performances year round Monday through Friday by appointment, and they have performances every second Sunday of the month.
The next performance is scheduled for March 11.
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Central Ohio Served As Major Stop On Underground Railroad
Many stops on the Underground Railroad were along the Olentangy River. Get the story.