Harriet Tubman
Underground Railroad
Scenes of Harriet Tubman's Underground Railroad in Dorchester County Maryland
Underground RR exhibit at the Dorchester County Visitor Center
Exhibitions orient visitors to Harriet Tubman and Dorchester County’s role in the Underground Railroad. Many informational panels describing Ms. Tubman’s life and role in the Underground Railroad are on display, giving visitors a sense of the region’s natural and cultural history at the time she lived in Dorchester County. The Dorchester County Visitor Center at Sailwinds Park is open daily from 8:30-5 PM weekdays. (410-228-1000)
New Turn Out & Sign former Brodess Farm
The Brodess Farm is privately owned. The signs share the story of Edward Brodess who moved his slave, Rittia Green (Harriet Tubman’s mother) and her children to his farm in Bucktown in 1823 or 1824. While this area has been historically recognized as Harriet Tubman’s birthplace; there is no conclusive evidence as to the exact birth site. However, Tubman did spend her early years working here on nearby farms. No trace remains of Edward Brodess’ house that was located near the existing modern, privately owned house at the end of the lane. When Brodess died in March 1949, his widow, Eliza Ann, decided to sell Harriet’s family. After hearing about the pending sale, Harriet Tubman ran away with her brothers, Ben Ross Jr. and Henry Ross. Uncertain about directing directions and fearing capture, they returned. Soon after, Harriet escaped alone.
Harriet Tubman Byway tour
Every year hundreds of people take advantage of tours offered in Dorchester County regarding Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. This is a typical setting of the landscape where Harriet Tubman lived and worked.
Byway tour Bucktown Store
In the mid-19th century, Bucktown was a larger community with two stores, a blacksmith shop, and shipyards on the Transquaking River. Here, between 1834 and 1836, Harriet Tubman received a blow to her head that fractured her skull while she attempted to assist a fellow enslaved man. This has been called Tubman’s first public act of defiance. As a result of the injury, she experienced life long health problems and spiritual visions that changed here views and guided the rest of her life.
Scotts Chapel near Bucktown - Bucktown United Methodist Church
Free and enslaved African Americans along with white citizens attended this church, founded in 1812. Harriet Tubman and her family may have worshiped here. The church had segregated graveyards; African Americans were buried across the road. This current building was constructed in 1891.
Harriet Tubman Re enactor
Local residents and ancestors have committed themselves to understand the work that Harriet Tubman did in her youth.
Dorchester Landscape Bucktown
Dorchester County is identified by its distinctive landscapes of the Chesapeake – extensive waterways, marshes and woodlands – that both helped and hindered the freedom seekers.
Waterfront Bucktown
Water is a significant part of the story of Dorchester County and the lives of both the white families and the black families –some slave, some free. Though this picture does not represent the kind of shipbuilding that went on, Harriet Tubman may have met the black shipbuilders and sailors in Madison whop provided information about the north and how to navigate by the stars, a skill Tubman supposedly used when guiding passengers along the Underground Railroad routes.
For others, the water was a source of their livelihood – oystering, crabbing and fishing provided livelihoods for many generations of families living in Dorchester County.
