Perryville Railroad Ferry & Station

Perryville Railroad Ferry and Station. A Dangerous Crossing to Freedom. , The Susquehanna River at Perryville was a critical and perilous obstacle for freedom seekers on the Underground Railroad. With no bridge, railroad travelers from Baltimore to Philadelphia were forced to disembark at Havre de Grace, cross the river by ferry, and re-board trains here, risking exposure at every stage. Several famous escapes passed through this perilous crossing:, Ellen and William Craft traveled from Georgia with Ellen disguising herself as a sickly white man, her face bandaged and arm in a sling, while William posed as "his" enslaved servant., Henry "Box" Brown shipped himself as freight in a wooden crate, enduring the terrifying journey from Virginia., Frederick Douglass, disguised as a sailor, nearly met disaster here when an acquaintance appeared at the station. Recognition would have ended his journey to freedom before it truly began., Visit CecilJourneysofCourage.com, [Captions:] , Henry "Box" Brown famously escaped slavery by shipping himself north in a wooden crate. His route to freedom included the railroad and a ferry crossing of the Susquehanna River-part of the same corridor used by many seeking liberty. (Source: William Still, The Underground Railroad: A Record of Facts, Authentic Narratives, Letters, &c, Narrating the Hardships, Hair-Breadth Escapes and Death Struggles of Slaves in Their Efforts for Freedom, As Related by Themselves and Others, or Witnessed by the Author, Library of Congress), Frederick Douglass, a prominent freedom seeker, orator, abolitionist, social reformer, and statesman, wrote about his journey on the railroad between Havre de Grace and Perryville (Source: Library of Congress), This illustration from the 1856 Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Guide depicts the steam ferry Maryland transporting passengers across the Susquehanna River between Havre de Grace and Perryville. Before a bridge was built after the Civil War, ferries provided transportation across the water for passengers and freight. (Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Guide, 1856. Digitized by Google)