MICHIGAN — Defined as a "network of people" as opposed to a literal train system, the Underground Railroad used codes and top-secret methods to help people across the country escape enslavement.
Right now, the Department of Natural Resources is spotlighting the local history of the the Underground Railroad in Michigan. In collaboration with the Michigan History Center and the Michigan Freedom Trail Commission, the DNR has spearheaded an interactive map, showing all the verified stops of the Underground Railroad in the state.
According to the Michigan Freedom Trail, "there are endless accounts about our state's importance to this secret network."
The interactive map shares 24 stories of people who fled enslavement, the abolitionists who aided them, and the Michigan towns where they found help.
In Battle Creek, for one, Quaker abolitionists Erastus and Sarah Hussey are reported to have aided around 1,000 people traveling to Michigan to find freedom. Erastus, who served in the state legislature in the 1850's, even introduced legislation protecting formerly enslaved people, and a monument stands in Battle Creek today, remembering his and Sarah's work on the Underground Railroad.
Other sites in West Michigan include the Isaac Bailey Burial Site in Grand Rapids, which commemorates the life of a freed man who fought in the Civil War, and the Jonathan Walker Grave and Marker in Muskegon, honoring the actions of a sea captain who was arrested in 1844 for taking formerly enslaved persons to freedom on his ships and later retired in Norton Shores.
All the sites on the map have verified connections to the Underground Railroad, says the Michigan Freedom Trail. Most are accessible to visitors.
To explore the sites and stories, visit the Michigan Freedom Trail interactive map.
