Bucky Harris Park

Bucky Harris Park. Experience Jackson. , Center of Conflict and Conviction , Bucky Harris Park was a busting business district in the center of town known as Jacksonburg Square in the 1800s. It featured the old county courthouse, three commercial blocks, and the first newspaper building (Jacksonburg Sentinel) which was co-owned and operated by the DeLand family. In 1850, Jacksonburg Square is the center of activity. This is where pro-slavery residents noted one hot July night, where abolitionists like the DeLands spoke openly through newspaper editorials, and where locals who were sympathetic to the plight of runaway slaves worked quietly behind the scenes to help them escape., Jackson - Hub of the Underground Railroad , During the decades leading up to the American Civil War, Jackson, Michigan was both hub and haven for thousands of slaves escaping through a human network called the Underground Railroad. The ultimate destination (usually Canada) for slaves on the route varied by slave and guide, but it was always considered "the land of freedom and was sought by staves one night, one mile, and one act of kindness at a time., Several community leaders and families in Jackson secretly housed, clothed, fed and measured runaways. while others supportive of the business of slavery openly hunted and punished escaped slaves or anyone aiding their fight. Some northerners went so far as to capture the runaways and return them to servitude. Not every slave on the Underground Railroad escaped.