Alum Creek & The Underground Railroad / The Underground Railroad

Alum Creek and The Underground Railroad, also, The Underground Railroad. . , Alum Creek and The Underground Railroad , The fifty-eight miles of Alum Creek run north to south originating in Morrow County and continues through Delaware County into Franklin County, where it empties into the Big Walnut Creek, draining into the Scioto River. Alum Creek, along with these and other waterways served as “liquid lines to freedom” for runaway slaves escaping a life of bondage and brutality. Wading through the waters prohibited the bounty hunters’ bloodhounds from picking up the human scent, allowing those freedom seekers to continue their journey to a safe haven under the veil of darkness. Sunbury Road, or the “Old Sunbury Pike,” was home to several Underground Railroad stations along the northern Alum Creek corridor, whose dwellers gave shelter to those seeking freedom. Ohio Dominican University, formerly, the College of St. Mary of the Springs, is proud of this heritage and the important waterway that runs through its grounds.

The Underground Railroad , The Underground Railroad was neither underground nor a railroad, but a system of loosely connected safe havens where those escaping the brutal conditions of slavery were sheltered, fed, clothed, nursed, concealed, disguised, and instructed during their journey to freedom. Although this movement was one of America's greatest social, moral, and humanitarian endeavors, the details about it were often cloaked in secrecy to protect those involved from the retribution of civil law and slave-catchers. Ohio's history has been permanently shaped by the thousands of runaway slaves passing through or finding permanent residence in this state.