Saving History Saturday: National Park Service Adds 16 New Listings to the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom

In late March, the National Park Service announced that they had added 16 new sites to the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. The sites, which span 11 states from New England to the Gulf Coast, to the Midwest, join 700 sites and programs that are already a part of the Network.

According to Diane Miller, national program manager of the Network to Freedom, “each listing holds a unique part of the Underground Railroad story, and we look forward to working with members to amplify the power of these places.”

Sites in this group of new additions include three locations that are already a part of the National Park Service, Marianna Expedition on Santa Rosa Island (Gulf Islands National Seashore); LeCompte Plantation (known today as Magnolia Plantation; Cane River Creole National Historic Park); and Emmanuel Prudhomme Plantation (known as Oakland Plantation’ Cane River Creole National Historic Park). Other sites include the Robert Gould Shaw 54th Massachusetts Regiment Memorial in Massachusetts, and the Port Tobacco Jail Sites in Maryland.

Many of the sites on the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom are privately owned. The National Park Service asks that private property rights are respected if a site is not open to the public.

To learn more, including to see a list of all 16 new additional, click here. You can visit the Network to Freedom page of the NPS website here.