She was born Araminta Ross (nicknamed “Minty”). However, you probably know her best as Harriet Tubman. She was also often referred to as “Moses” for her comparable nature in leading countless numbers of enslaved people to freedom via the Underground Railroad.
Whatever name you use to describe her, we all call her a hero, and one who is nationally recognizable at that. Yet we folks living in and around the Chesapeake Bay region have the honor of counting her as a local hero. What’s more, we can even retrace the same routes and pathways she once used personally. From her bold escape into freedom to her growing up years on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, we are surrounded by so many sites that were significant to the life and legacy of Harriet Tubman. And thanks to the mapped-out Harriet Tubman Scenic Byway it’s now easier and more convenient than ever to navigate all these sites, making for a most unique and educational daytrip opportunity.
What is the Harriet Tubman Byway?
The Harriet Tubman Byway is a self-guided, organized scenic driving tour of highlighted sites and markers along the Great Chesapeake Bay Loop. While many of the featured stops focus on Tubman’s life and her journey to freedom along the Underground Railroad, some callouts include those to other members of the local black community and significant historic occurrences before, during, and after the Civil War. The driving route begins in Cambridge in Dorchester County, leading up through Maryland’s Eastern Shore toward the Delaware line. There are around 46 different sites along the way, with most being located along the 125-mile Maryland stretch throughout Caroline and Dorchester Counties. If you keep going for an additional 98 miles, the Byway continues on past the Delaware line through Kent and New Castle Counties, eventually leading all the way to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Because this is a self-guided tour, you get to go about it at your own pace, and may even take detours where applicable. Most folks, however, find the total drive time duration to be somewhere between three and four hours. Here are the official stopping points highlighted on the drive along the Harriet Tubman Byway to navigate by, start to finish.
Maryland
Dorchester County Visitor Center
2 Rose Hill Place
Cambridge, MD 21613
Your best bet is to start your Harriet Tubman Byway adventure here. Overlooking the Choptank River, the Dorchester County Visitor Center in Cambridge has a knowledgeable staff on standby, ready and willing to help you plan your navigation. It’s also home to an informative exhibit laden with plentiful background information about Harriet Tubman specifically and all other Underground Railroad activity throughout the region.
Harriet Tubman Memorial Garden
U.S. 50 at Washington Street
Cambridge MD 21613
Open daily, dawn to dusk, this quaint tribute in honor of Harriet Tubman makes a befitting low-key stop along the way. It’s a peaceful and tranquil area of simple beauty and grace, perfect for reflection. Charles Ross, one of Harriet Tubman’s many surviving relatives, was the mastermind painter behind the beautiful murals now gracing the garden site.
Dorchester County Courthouse
206 High Street
Cambridge, MD 21613
Home to the renowned 12-foot bronze Harriet Tubman sculpture “Beacon of Hope” by Wesley Wofford, the Dorchester County Courthouse also played host to many crucial events throughout history. From housing a slave auction block in front of the original structure (which burned down and was rebuilt) to being a place where many “incidents” and fateful decisions were made during the height of the Underground Railroad, this is a definite stop to add onto your journey along the Harriet Tubman Byway.
High Street District/Bayly House
207 High Street
Cambridge, MD 21613
This is likely one of the oldest houses in Cambridge, having been built sometime in the mid-18th century (later moved to Cambridge). While not directly tied to Harriet Tubman personally, it still serves a significant highlight depicting local Underground Railroad history. It was from this house on October 17, in 1857 that an enslaved woman named Lizzie Amby, who was owned by Dr. Alexander Bayly, escaped to freedom with her husband Nat and 13 others from Cambridge.
Long Wharf
Water Street
Cambridge, MD 21613
Also known as the “portal to slavery—gateway to freedom,” this was a major trade and travel route into Cambridge throughout the 18th century. It was here that ships sailing directly from Africa and the West Indies brought kidnapped Africans and sold them along the waterfront before the practice was outlawed in 1808.
Today Long Warf is site to many regular and seasonal happenings, including farmers markets, skipjack sails, and even historic walking tours.
Harriet Tubman Museum & Educational Center
424 Race Street
Cambridge, MD 21613
This is the ultimate highlight to check out on any Harriet Tubman Byway grand tour. In dedication to preserving her legacy as a “conductor” on the Underground Railroad, this museum and educational center features various exhibits, information resources, and even a short film about the life and legacy of Harriet Tubman and the amazing person she was.
Stanley Institute
MD Route 16
Cambridge, MD 21613
A historic marvel to awe onlooking travelers, here you have an actual one-room African American schoolhouse that was both built and established newly freed blacks shortly after the Civil War. Prior to the end of the War, it was a crime to teach slaves how to read and write. So educational opportunities were scarce. Originally known as “the Rock School,” this institute was moved to its current site in 1867 and was used as recently as the 1960s.
Church Creek
There are a number of different historic sites to explore all throughout this once-prominent shipbuilding community in Dorchester. At the center of it all is the waterfront where many free black sailors known as “Black Jacks” lived and worked. They also served as crucial, secretive communication networks.
Malone’s Church
White Marsh Road
Madison, MD 21648
Founded in 1894, Malone’s Methodist Episcopal Church was the first of a series of African American-founded churches following the end of the Civil War. Harriet Tubman worked and lived in close proximity to where historic Malone’s Methodist Episcopal Church now stands.
Madison
MD Route 16 and Madison Canning House Road
Madison, MD 21648
While she spent most of her childhood and adolescence in Bucktown, it was in the community of Madison that Harriet Tubman spent most of her teenage years. Here she was hired out to work for John T. Stewart—owner of various local farms, businesses, and a shipyard. This was also where her father lived and where she had been born. Her father, Ben Ross, was set free in 1840, and worked in Stewart’s lumbering operation. Here young Harriet learned many vital outdoor survival skills that later served to benefit her while leading others to freedom on the Underground Railroad.
Joseph Stewart’s Canal
MD Route 16 and Parsons Creek
Taylors Island, MD 21669
Only accessible by driving by, this seven-mile canal was dug (by hand) by freed and enslaved blacks alike. It took more than two decades to complete, between the years of 1810 and 1832. The canal was designed by Joseph Stewart, Anthony Thompson, and other area landowners as a means for floating logs and agricultural products to the ships at nearby wharves in Madison Bay.
New Revived United Methodist Church
4350 Smithville Road
Taylors Island, MD 21669
Formerly known as Jefferson Methodist Episcopal Church when it was built in 1876, this was one of the other four African American churches established in the community following the Civil War. The others included the aforementioned Malone Methodist Episcopal Church on White Marsh Road, Christ Rock Methodist Episcopal Church near Cambridge in 1875, and St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Harrisville in 1880.
Buttons Creek
MD Route 335 and Blackwater River
Church Creek, MD 21622
A site that can be viewed by watercraft on one of the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge’s existing water trails, it was here that slave Jane Kane, who was owned by plantation owner Horatio Jones, escaped to freedom by donning men’s clothing that Harriet Tubman’s brother Ben hid for her in one of the gardens.
Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center
4068 Golden Hill Road
Church Creek, MD 21622
Here is another must-do stop along the Byway. Located onsite of the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park, exhibits here focus largely on the overall life Harriet Tubman led, from a childhood of slavery on through her adult life leading in rescue missions. Other exhibits focus on her actions both during and following the Civil War.
Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge
2145 Key Wallace Drive
Cambridge, MD 21613
This scenic drive-by, spanning 30,000 acres of intricate waterways, forests, and marshland, remains practically unchanged since the days that Harriet Tubman and others passed through on the route to freedom. On location is a Visitor Center that is open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Wildlife Drive and refuge trails, however, are open each day from sunrise to sunset.
Little Blackwater Bridge
Key Wallace Drive and Little Blackwater River
Church Creek, MD 21622
While on location, be sure to stop by the historic Little Blackwater Bridge, which has remained here since the 1700s. The bridge even dates back to the time when Harriet Tubman’s grandmother, Modesty, was a slave on Atthow Pattison’s tobacco farm, just across the river.
Brodess Farm
Greenbrier Road
Bucktown, MD 21613
This was the very premises where Harriet Tubman grew up as an enslaved child. Sometime between 1823 and 1824, Edward Brodess moved Tubman’s mother Rita and her children to his home here. While the original farmhouse no longer stands, it’s still a significant historic stop on the Byway route.
Bucktown General Store
4303 Bucktown Road
Bucktown, MD 21613
This site is significant in that it was where Harriet Tubman’s first major act of defiance took place. Having been hired out by a nearby farmer, Tubman and the farm’s cook went here to purchase goods when a slave who left without his master’s permission arrived. When his overseer confronted him in the store, he requested Tubman’s assistance in apprehending his charge. She refused and the slave escaped. In a rage, the overseer grabbed a two-pound weight from the store’s counter, hurled it toward him, but missed and struck Tubman in the head.
Bestpitch Ferry Bridge
Bestpitch Ferry Road and Transquaking River
Bucktown, MD 21613
Located at the site of a former ferry over the Transquaking River, this wooden bridge offers premium views of Dorchester County marshlands. This was where many free and enslaved African American watermen operated ferry crossings in the area, transporting agricultural and timber products. It also served as the place for freedom seekers to sneak away by.
Scott’s Chapel
Bucktown Road
Bucktown, MD 21613
Offering drive-by access solely, this was the location of the congregation where Harriet Tubman’s master, Edward Brodess, was a member. Tubman, her mother, and siblings all attended worship services here too, sitting in the back of the church or in balconies, separate from white congregants.
Pritchett Meredith Farm
Bucktown and DeCoursey Bridge Roads
Bucktown, MD 21613
Another drive-by access-only location, when news of eight escaped slaves from the Bucktown area made national headlines back in 1857 two in the group actually fled from this farm. It was a sad situation, where these slaves had sought assistance from several notable folks working the Underground Railroad, including Reverend Samuel Green and Harriet Tubman’s father Ben Ross. But when they found their way to Thomas Otwell, a black Underground Railroad conductor in Delaware whom Tubman herself had trusted, he ended up betraying the bunch in order to cash in on the $3,000 reward for their capture. Reverend Samuel Green was arrested and jailed on suspicion of aiding the group and Tubman’s father was nearly jailed himself, but was rescued by his daughter just in time.
Faith Community United Methodist Church
509 Railroad Avenue
East New Market, MD 21631
This was the church that Reverend Samuel Green, a free black minister and one of the church’s first trustees preached at. The land upon which it sits was deeded by Sarah Young, a free black woman, in order to establish “the Colored People’s Methodist Episcopal Church” back in 1844. Now known as “Faith Community United Methodist Church,” the current structure is the second house of worship to house this still-active congregation on location.
Jacob and Hannah Leverton Home
3531 Seaman Road
Preston, MD 21655
This private residence is significant as being the home and station house of Quaker Underground Railroad agents of Jacob and Hannah. The site features a Network to Freedom program on location, highlighting the history of the husband and wife Quaker abolitionists as well as individual stories and accounts on what they did for providing aid, shelter, and assistance to escaping slave refugees.
Linchester Mill
Route 331 and Linchester Road
Preston, MD 21655
This old abandoned mill site was once the place to see both free and enslaved blacks working side-by-side of each other, enduring often-dangerous conditions on a daily basis. Interestingly enough, the mill was encompassed by a series of safe house locations. On the west side were the Levertons, the Hubbards and the Kelleys. Harriet Tubman’s parents, Ben and Rit Ross, were at Poplar Neck on the east side.
Choptank Landing
Choptank Road at Choptank River
Preston, MD 21655
This was where some of Harriet Tubman’s most daring and turbulent rescue missions took place. Tubman herself most likely made her first escape into freedom from a starting point not far from this location.
Mount Pleasant Methodist Episcopal Cemetery
2246 Marsh Creek Road
Preston, MD 21655
This is the site where the original Mount Pleasant Methodist Episcopal Church—an African American church–was established in 1849 after the land was sold by local Quakers to free blacks. It’s also known as the “secret meeting place” owing to the fact that the cemetery was used by fugitive slaves escaping via the Underground Railroad.
Jonestown
Route 16 Harmony Road
Preston, MD 21655
This was a community of free African Americans, established by Jenkins Jones during the Antebellum years. A free black himself, Jones and many others made it their mission to improve the lives and destiny of African Americans through bettering the overall quality of life via education, faith, and creating a promising future with plentiful opportunities. It is likely that Jonestown community members had connections in assisting Harriet Tubman on her rescue missions.
Webb Cabin
Grove Road
Preston, MD 21655
This interpretive historic site offers the best visual representation to visitors today looking to see firsthand what the inside of a typical African American home looked like during the 1850s. It was the former home of James H. Webb, a free African American farmer, who built the cabin himself.
Gilpin Point
Holly Park Drive
Harmony, MD 21655
As one of the busiest wharves along the Choptank River, Gillin Point was a well-known landing for passenger ships and merchant vessels. It was also from here that 40-year-old Joseph Cornish escaped to freedom via a passenger vessel in 1855, stopping in Philadelphia briefly before making his way to Canada.
William Still Interpretive Center
4-H Park, Detour Road
Denton, MD 21629
Located in 4-H Park, here you can learn more about Philadelphia Abolitionist William Still and his background, including family life and historic legacy. The site is home to many exhibits and interpretive features.
Caroline Courthouse
Courthouse Square
Denton, MD 21629
Here is another historic courthouse with a vital, albeit, less-than-stellar past. As a symbol of white legal, political, economic, and social power during the Antebellum years, the site was both home to an active slave market and a jail for captured runaways and Underground Railroad conductors.
Moses Viney/Daniel Crouse Memorial Park
5 Crouse Park
Denton, MD 21629
Now a peaceful and serene place to stop by and take a breather at, this scenic memorial park pays tribute to Moses Viney. Like Tubman and many others, Viney has a long and historic story worth exploring, starting with how he was born into slavery in Talbot County and later escaped on Easter morning in 1840 after learning he might be sold to slave traders in the Deep South.
Denton Steamboat Wharf
10219 River Landing Road
Denton, MD 21629
A once-thriving port during the 1850s, it was here that steamboats were actively loaded with freight and passengers for departures bound to Baltimore each week. Many enslaved people worked in the surrounding Choptank shipyards.
Tuckahoe Neck Meeting House
Meeting House Road
Denton, MD 21629
Built as early as 1803, this humble abode served as yet another establishment for Quaker agents working on the Underground Railroad. It was one of five known Quaker meeting house locations in Caroline County.
Adkins Arboretum
12610 Eveland Road
Ridgely, MD 21660
A well-known tourist destination dedicated to promoting the appreciation and conservation of the region’s native plants, this 440-acre garden and preserve is another featured stop along the Byway. It offers onlookers an accurate visual representation of the woodland marshy areas that so many freedom seekers had to venture through on their way north.
Greensboro
North Main Street and Cedar Lane
Greensboro, MD 21639
For a truly turbulent example and representation of what escape conditions could be like, stop by here to learn the true gritty facts of what escapees and Abolitionists alike were up against historically.
Christian Park/Red Bridges
Red Bridges Road
Greensboro, MD 21639
Before heading toward the Delaware border, take a stop at this lovely and serene spot where you can wade across the Choptank. A much smaller stream located at the headwaters of the larger and more famous body, this site was likely close to the route Harriet Tubman utilized for arriving in Sandtown, Delaware.
Delaware
Willow Grove
Norman G. Wilder Wildlife Area
6693 Willow Grove Road
Camden Wyoming, DE 19934
Hailed as the “crossroads to freedom” and home to a large sign denoting such, this is considered the official site of Samuel D. Burris—a free black man who served as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. Because Delaware was still a slaveholding state, those reaching this point, having crossed the Maryland state line, still had 75 miles to go before entering the free state of Pennsylvania.
First State Heritage Park Welcome Center/Old State House
121 Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard
Dover, DE 19901
5 The Green
Dover, DE 19901
As a combination Delaware tour, the recommended course to take is to head on over to the First State Heritage Park Welcome Center first, where you can gather resources and learn about the countless risks that freedom-seekers had to endure time and again. Then venture on over to the Old State House and see the courtroom where the aforementioned Samuel D. Burris was arrested, tried, and convicted in 1847 for aiding escaped slaves.
Various guided tours and immersive exhibits further explain the life and legacy of many Abolitionists and escaped slaves in the area, including the Dover Eight, Thomas Otwell, and Harriet Tubman, of course.
Blackbird
502 Blackbird Forest Road
Smyrna, DE 19977
Come out to Blackbird State Forest to get an authentic feel for what the landscape was truly like for freedom-seeking escaped slaves on the run. The densely bucolic trees, shrubs, and brush are as indicative today as they were in the mid-1800s and before.
Corbit-Sharp House
Historic Odessa Foundation
201 Main Street
Odessa, DE 19730
Doubling as the location for the Historic Odessa Foundation, this building, once a place of refuge as the home of Quaker Abolitionists, plays host to an onsite museum. It’s here you can immerse yourself in various interior exhibits and even ongoing tours and programs.
New Castle Court House Museum
211 Delaware Street
New Castle, DE 19720
Now serving as a history and heritage museum, here is another very important courthouse to stop in at and explore. It was here that two of the state’s most prominent Abolitionists and Underground Railroad stationmasters, Thomas Garrett and John Hunn, were tried and found guilty of assisting in the escape of the Hawkins family of Maryland in 1845.
Tubman-Garrett Riverfront Park
Christina Riverfront
40 Rosa Parks Drive
Wilmington, DE 19801
I’ve already mentioned the various Harriet Tubman heritage sites in Maryland, but this is one of Delaware’s most honored tribute stops. In addition to Tubman, the site honors Quaker-born Thomas Garrett, who is estimated to have helped roughly 2,700 enslaved people escape to freedom over the course of four decades.
Center for African American Heritage at the Delaware History Museum
504 N. Market Street
Wilmington, DE 19801
302-655-7161
No grand tour through the state, highlighting the life and legacy of local African American heritage and history, would be complete without a visit to the Center for African American Heritage at the Delaware History Museum. Located in Wilmington, this all-in-one campus exploration looks at all of the above historic struggles that the black community has faced throughout the years, from slavery on through segregation and the quest for Civil Rights.
Pennsylvania
Independence Hall
Independence National Historical Park
520 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, 19106
At Independence National Historical Park, within Independence Square no less, you can explore a variety of different buildings connected to the Underground Railroad. Additional exhibits showcase the many vital decisions surrounding the institution of slavery and freedom that took place on location here. Independence Hall is a most befitting stop to include once crossing the Pennsylvania border via the Byway.
William Still’s Last Residence
244 South 12th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
The last official stop on the list is this site—which served as the final residence of William Still. It was here that William Still of the Philadelphia Vigilance Committee provided shelter, food, clothing, transportation, and even money for fugitive slaves on their quest north into Canada.
Again, you are more than welcome to pick and choose your stops accordingly, as well as going at your own pace or staying longer/shorter at certain destinations along the way. Exploring the Harriet Tubman Byway is an excellent endeavor any time of year. But it is especially fun to do as an exciting and informative Black History Month pursuit. To learn more about the Harriet Tubman Byway or to download a map, go to www.harriettubmanbyway.org.