Underground Railroad East Bicycle trails
Current route and cue sheet
South New Jersey Bicycle route
November 5, 2005 9:30 am. Underground Railroad stations ride. I will lead a bicycle ride from Peter Mott house in Lawnside NJ (located at Moore and Gloucester Aves.) to Bethel AME church in Woolwich NJ, near Swedesboro NJ. (we will lunch is historical Swedesboro.) These are two stops of the Under Ground Rail Road. This part of the route is 40 miles round trip. The above cue sheet is from The Ben Franklin Bridge in Camden NJ to a third stop in Greenwich NJ, Bethel AME church. A distance of 54 miles one way. the cue also is for the return ride. Directions by car to the start; Warwick Ave or Rt. 30 ( white Horse Pike to Gloucester Ave. Left from Rt. 30 Right from Warwick Ave. I will Ride from Cheltenham With a pickup at the Cooper River, 8:30 am. Cuthbert Blvd. and Park Blvd. Cue sheet above. email billcotton@billcotton.com Cell phone 215 5592910.
Below; "Aboard the Underground Railroad: a national register travel itinerary" The link has list and map of register sites.
http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/underground/
Pasted below is a bicycle news group posting of a proposed bicycle trail to run in the Ohio River area. I live near LaMott, Cheltenham township http://cheltenhamtownship.org/lamott/lamott2.htm and I pass through Lawnside New Jersey on many of my rides to South Jersey and the Shore points. I am seeking other known stops The Cues from Cheltenham that pass through Lawnside are on this page; http://www.billcotton.com/Bill%20cotton%20cue%20sheets.htm Cue to Lindenwold and many others uses Warwick Ave. which is the main street in Lawnside. There is a trail in the making that may be utilized in some areas. http://www.billcotton.com/east_coast_greenway.htm Another stop that I an aware is between Philly and New Hope, a small church that is still in uses.
Copied from Bicycle newsgroup.
Underground Railroad bike route in the planning stage
Post staff report
Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky are part of a 2,000-mile Underground Railroad
Bicycle Route being planned by a cycling group.
Specific roads and bike trails the route will follow are still being researched
and organizers say tours on the route probably won't be available until 2007.
The route from Mobile, Ala., to Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada, where many escaped
slaves settled, is being planned by the Adventure Cycling Association, a
44,000-member group headquartered in Missoula, Mont.
The cycling group is partnering with the Center for Minority Health in
Pittsburgh on the project and informally collaborating with the National
Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati.
Ginny Sullivan of the Adventure Cycling Association said she will be coming to
Cincinnati in mid-October to tour the area and meet with people interested in
the bike route, including staff members of the Freedom Center.
"The Freedom Center will be featured as one of the sites to see along the
bike
route," she said.
Paul Bernish of the Freedom Center said some staff members of the center have
already had preliminary discussions with officials of the cycling association.
"We would look for any opportunity to work with them," said Bernish.
"We think
the Underground Railroad Bicycle Route is well worth doing.
"Anything that draws attention to the underground railroad, its sites and
that
portion of our history is terrific."
The Underground Railroad was a series of routes and safe houses that slaves used
in the 1800s to escape from the southern United States, where slavery was legal,
to the northern United States and Canada, where slavery was illegal.
The Ohio River was the demarcation line between slave states and free states.
The cycling association is mapping a route based on the song "Follow the
Drinking Gourd," a coded saga about an escape route from Alabama and
Mississippi to the Ohio River.
The drinking gourd was another name for the Big Dipper arrangement of stars that
escaping slaves used as a guide.
Preliminary plans for the bicycle route include Louisville and Maysville, Ky.,
as well as Cincinnati and Ripley, in Brown County, Ohio, said Sullivan.
"We've developed a corridor and we're now looking for specific roads,"
she said.
"Most of our routes will be on two-lane highways. We look for roads that
have
low traffic density and good shoulder width, although we can't always find
both."
The route is expected to go northeast from Cincinnati along the Little Miami
Scenic Trail, a popular paved road for bicycles and pedestrians that is off
limits to cars and trucks.
http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050823/NEWS01/508230344
Christmas House tunnel in Bangor Maine web link; http://members.tripod.com/~ue-bangor/brewer-a/brewer-a.html
East Coast Underground Railroad Bicycle stops
From the list below I am developing routes, cue sheets, GPS routes and waypoints.
NJ 2
The Peter Mott House is located at the corner of Moore
and Gloucester aves. in Lawnside, New Jersey. It was saved from demolition by
the Lawnside Historical Society. The house is open to the public on
Saturdays from 12:00pm to 3:00pm and for group tours by appointment. A tour
request form can be downloaded from the Peter
Mott House website, or for further information call 856-546-8850 or e-mail lhs@petermotthouse.org.
NJ 3
Greenwich was originally settled by Quakers in 1685. After the Manumission
Act of 1786, which enabled Quakers to free their slaves without financial
hardship, the village of Springtown gradually developed as Quakers starting
selling small tracts of land to free blacks. By the time of the Civil War,
Springtown had developed into a large group of free land-holding blacks which
made the area ideal for abolitionist activity. For many fugitive slaves,
Springtown was a temporary destination before moving on, for others it became
the end of their running. Their presence swelled the size of Springtown and
strengthened it as a force for abolition The Bethel AME Church is located on Sheppards Mill Rd. in
Greenwich Township, New Jersey. It is private property, and not open to the
public.
Manumission Acts http://www.wfu.edu/~zulick/340/manumission.html http://www.gophila.com/culturefiles/historichouses/dolleytodd/ http://www.ket.org/underground/history/glossary.htm
The center of Greenwich is on the Cohensey River, a major port in the17 and 18 hundreds. The town has a monument claming to have been the original Tea party against British ships. The town's pier about 3 miles from Bethel AME church. A reason to have a station in that area.
This stop needs work or it could be lost The grass is cut and there are grave marks on both side of the church, I look at a few with 1800 dates.
Bethel AME''s new cemetery, Near the old church The bottom lines reads "Property owned by Historic Bethel Othello AME Church.
NJ 4
Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church and Mount Zion Cemetery is located at 172 Garwin Rd. in Woolwich Township, New Jersey. It is still in use by the congregation. Call 856-467-5448 for further information.
I couldn't find the Cemetery.
The Underground Railroad sign was down again, I had put it back up on the preview ride. Saul captured the mechanical team of Elaine and Royer reinstalling the sign into new wood while I and Shirley give visual support.
DE 2
The Friends Meeting House is located at 4th and West sts. in Wilmington,
Delaware. Visitors are welcome to attend services at 10:00am every Sunday. The
main floor is open to visitors at other times by appointment only. Call
302-652-4491, visit the website
or email wilmmtg@juno.com for further information.
MD 1
John Brown's Headquarters is located at 2406 Chestnut Road in Samples Manor, Maryland. Privately owned, it is open to the public by appointment. Tours can be arranged though the Headquarter's website, or by sending an email to jbrown1859@aol.com.
PA 2
The John Brown House is located at 225 East King Street in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. It is open to the public.
PA 3
Bethel AME Church is located in Reading, Pennsylvania at 119 North Tenth
Street. It is open to the public.
PA 4
Oakdale is located in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania on Hillendale Road, just southwest of the town. The property is a private residence and is not open to the public. N39 51.867 W75 37.000
PA 5
White Horse Farm is located in Schuylkill Township, Pennsylvania on Whitehorse Road. The property is a private residence and is not open to the public. N40 05.511 W75 31.075
PA 6
The Johnson House is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at 6306
Germantown Avenue. It is open to the public.
Civil War and Underground Railroad Museum of Philadelphia
1805 Pine Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
215-735-8196 phone
Under Construction; Belmont Mason Philadelphia Fairmont Park Underground
Railroad Museum.
Kennett Square map of Stations in that area http://undergroundrr.kennett.net/map.html
NY 4
The
John Brown Farm and Gravesite are located on John Brown Road, just south of
the intersection with Old Military Road in Lake Placid, New York. It is open to
the public.
NY 5
Foster AME Zion Church is located in Tarrytown, New York at 90 Wildey
Street. It is open to the public.
NY 6
Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims is located at 75 Hicks St., in Brooklyn,
New York. Recently restored, it is still in use by the congregation. Midday
tours of the sanctuary are offered after Sunday services. Call 718-624-4743 or
visit the church’s website
for further information.
VT 1
Rokeby is located in Ferrisburg, Vermont on US Route 7 at the corner of Robinson Road just north of Ferrisburg. It is open to the public.
ME 1
The Harriet Beecher Stowe House is located at 63 Federal Street in Brunswick, Maine. The house currently operates as a restaurant and hotel and is open to the public.
Complete list of stops and maps; http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/underground/