Underground Railroad towns in NY.....

[Mercator Projection]

Before I was born, my parents almost bought an old house near Sidney, NY. They said the house had a secret room behind the fireplace which was used in the UGRR. There were scorch marks on the walls where lit candles had once been placed. I always thought that was cool.

I'm not sure that Sidney (or any of the surrounding communities) was very active, but you can find RR stops here and there.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by Mercator Projection

There are many UGRR stories surrounding John Brown's home and the black colony near Lake Placid. Some historians contend that it was just freed slaves and there is no actual evidence of harboring runaways. Maybe so, but come on... this was John Brown, one of the most active abolitionists in the country. And he was aided by Gerrit Smith, one of the most active abolitionists in the state. I find it hard to believe that John Brown's farm, with its proximity to Canada and the owner's passionate commitment to the cause, did not see any runaway slaves.

Good point. You are referring to the Timbuctoo settlement in North Elba. Gerrit Smith did offer land in the Adirondacks to former runaways.

Also, Peterboro, where Smith lived, was a big UGRR town. It's a very small communitiy between Canastota and Morrisville in Madison County and some of the decendants of these runaways still live there.

Here's some cool information:Adirondack Museum | Adirondack Journal — Timbucto: African American History in the Adirondacks

Adirondack Almanack: Black History Month: Adirondack Stories

Online Exhibitions - Dreaming of Timbuctoo

African American Registry -- Your Source for African American History

[skbs]

http://www.perinton.org/Data/Documen...%203-5-08).pdf

New Yorkers Active in the Underground Railroad

http://www.libraryweb.org/tutorials/..._stations2.pdf

Suburbs featured heroes of Underground Railroad - Canandaigua, NY - MPNnow
Rochester Images - Many Roads to Freedom

[Tioga]

Owego, NY was a stop on the underground rr.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by Tioga

Owego, NY was a stop on the underground rr.

I'm not surprised. Actually, when I was looking at a 1920 census of Black communities in Upstate NY counties, Owego had most of it's people of African decent mainly on the East side of the village on streets like East Temple, Green and Paige. Paige Street was where the majority of the Black community lived in Owego at that time.