WESTERN MARYLAND ANTIETAM NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD • Sharpsburg Big Pool Fort Frederick State Park 11000 Ft Frederick Rd, 21711 301-842-2155, 1-800-830-3974 Shawnee Oldfield Village 13 Canal St, 21502 301-739-4200 Shawnee Indians once lived in the hills surrounding Oldtown, near the confluence of the North and South branches of the Potomac River. From about 1711-1727, Shawnees living at King Opessa’s Town and neighboring sites offered refuge to freedom seekers who had fled from Virginia and Maryland. Frustrated governors of both states sought to negotiate with the Shawnee to return the runaways. Virginia offered bounties of guns and blankets. Today the village site is a forested area located within the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park. nps.gov/choh/index.htm A free and wealthy African American named Nathan Williams once owned the land that now houses this park. Witness military re-enactments and daily living history programming at the fort that once protected Maryland’s colonial frontier. dnr.maryland.gov/ publiclands/Pages/western/ fortfrederick.aspx in 1827. James W.C. Pennington described his life at Rockland and his dramatic escape in his 1849 autobiography, The Fugitive Blacksmith . Pennington became a powerful Presbyterian minister, abolitionist, civil rights activist and Underground Railroad agent. Built in 1803, the site is now a wedding and events center and may be viewed from the main road. ninetythirtyevents.com Grantsville Negro Mountain Alt US 40 & Zehner Rd, 21536 301-895-5759 Believed to have been named after Nemesis, an enslaved black frontiersman, who killed fighting Indians with Maryland frontiersmen. Accessible by backcountry hiking. hmdb.org/m.asp?m=245060 Cumberland Emmanuel Parish 16 Washington St, 21502 301-777-3364 Using the former defense tunnels of Fort Cumberland under the church, oral history tells us that Samuel Denson and Rev. David Hillhouse Buel provided food and aid to Underground Railroad freedom seekers. emmanuelparishofmd.org Fairplay Rockland 9030 Sharpsburg Pike, 21733 • 866-WED-9030 One of the most prominent African American leaders of the 19th century escaped from here Maryland’s Underground Railroad & African-American Heritage Travel Guide 11
African American Heritage Guide 2025 African American Heritage Guide: Page 11
