Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway WELCOME TO TUBMAN COUNTRY Born into slavery in Dorchester County, Maryland in 1822, Harriet Tubman made the fateful decision to escape in 1849 when she was about to be sold at auction. Traveling by night and hiding by day, she traversed open fi elds, rivers, marshes and woodlands. Leaving Maryland, she headed north through Delaware, eventually reaching Philadelphia and freedom. Soon, Tubman realized she didn’t feel free without her loved ones close by. Pained by their separation, she returned to Maryland’s Eastern Shore about 13 times to rescue family members and friends.Tracked by slave catchers, Tubman risked her life to selfl essly help more than 70 enslaved people fi nd freedom. Many of these journeys ended in St. Catharine’s, Ontario where her charges were safely across an international border. Today, this byway crosses a landscape that looks much like it did close to two centuries ago when Tubman was born and raised in slavery and risked her life for freedom. It takes visitors to places where Tubman was enslaved, and roughly follows one of her routes northward, connecting sites where she rescued others, received assistance and found safety. Many of these sites have been recognized by the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. Your journey tracing Tubman’s travels is about to begin. Along the way you will fi nd interpretive markers, audio tour stops, exhibits, museums, historic structures and more that help the stories come to life. As you encounter these places, allow yourself to be transported back to another time and refl ect on the lives of these ordinary people who did extraordinary things in pursuit of freedom. roads take you to Philadelphia, Tubman’s fi rst destination once she found freedom. While traveling, use the accompanying map to help you navigate. Download or stream the free Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway Audio Guide from www.harriettubmanbyway.org, or download the free audio tour mobile app from Google Play or the Apple App Store. The audio tour corresponds with this guide and will enhance your experience through dramatic presentations of authentic Underground Railroad escape stories. A key at the top of each byway site lets you know which track(s) to play on the audio tour. In Maryland, many of the sites are interpreted through byway markers that are easily recognizable at a distance due to their signature shape. These markers can help you fi nd your way and locate stops. Within this guide, icons on each page indicate if the byway site has exhibits, programs or tours, and whether it is motor coach accessible. A National Park Service logo or National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom logo tells you that site is a National Park Service site or a member of the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. Sites with byway markers are indicated with a Byway Marker label next to their name. While most sites have a place to pull over and stop, a few of the sites have no public access. These sites are depicted with a gold square on the maps, rather than a red circle. See the legend below for more information. Getting Your Bearings The Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway travels 125 miles through the Eastern Shore of Maryland before crossing into Delaware at Sandtown. It continues for another 98 miles, connecting through Dover to Wilmington. Our route then follows the Brandywine Valley Scenic Byway into Pennsylvania where highways and local Audio Tour Exhibits Network to Freedom Member Motor Coach no public access Programs & Tours pull-off access 5
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