38 Old State House First State Heritage Park Welcome Ctr 121 Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard Dover, DE 19901 www.nps.gov/frst/index.htm www.destateparks.com/heritagepark Interior Exhibits Guided Tours The Old State House 25 The Green Dover, DE 19901 www.history.delaware.gov Next Site To Blackbird State For-est: Turn right out of the Delaware Public Archives parking lot and take the fi rst right onto Legislative Avenue. At the light, turn right onto Loockerman Street. Continue east until the intersection with Route 13. Turn left and follow U.S. 13 N for 17 miles. Turn left at Blackbird Forest Road. Blackbird State Forest will be on the left in 1.9 miles. Previous Site Built in 1791, the Old State House served as Delaware’s capitol and is now the focal point of the Dover Green and part of First State National Historical Park. To Norman G. Wilder Wildlife Area/Willow Grove: From the First State Heritage Park Welcome Center, turn right out of the Delaware Public Archives parking lot and take the fi rst right onto Legislative Ave-nue. At the light, turn right onto Loockerman Street. Continue east until the intersection with Route 13. Turn right and follow Route 13 to the intersection of E Camden-Wyoming Avenue, Route 10, and turn right. Follow DE 10 which turns left at Willow Grove Road. Continue west to the inter-section with Henry Cowgill Road, and the Norman G. Wilder Wildlife Area is on the right. In 1847, Samuel D. Burris, a free black Underground Railroad conductor, was arrested, tried, and convicted in the courtroom of the Old State House for aiding the escape of slaves. In addition to large fi nes and jail time, a free African American convicted of such a crime risked sale into slavery. Spared that fate, Burris moved his family to California in the 1850s, where he continued to support the fi ght for African-American freedom. On November 2, 2015, Delaware Governor Jack Markell pardoned Burris in the same court room where he was convicted 168 years earlier. Tours and programs at The Old State House explore Delaware’s legislative debates on slavery and freedom. The park also highlights the dramatic escape story of the “Dover Eight,” a group of freedom seekers and friends of Harriet Tubman, who fl ed from Maryland in 1857. They were betrayed by a black Underground Railroad agent, Thomas Otwell, who lured them into the Dover jail for a $3,000 cash reward. The group broke out of the jail in a dramatic altercation with the sheriff . Page numbers for sites on this map can be found on page 4 in the table of contents. Start your visit at the First State Heritage Park Welcome Center (Delaware Public Archives) where you will fi nd parking, amenities, and information on Park programming. The Center includes exhibits on Delaware history and founding documents. From there, it is a short walk to the Green, the Old State House and the John Bell House. 43
Harriet Tubman Guide 2019 Harriet Tubman Guide: Page 43
