Hubby and I took a spontaneous journey to the Harriet Tubman Trail on the Eastern Shore of Maryland this week. Next time we will plan! It was difficult downloading maps and information on the phone and we got lost more than once. Plus there’s the pandemic which means that most of the Trail is closed unless you are outside. And you can peek in windows.
A journey was made and pictures were had and I want to encourage you to look into things like this whlie we are all distancing – trust me. The Trail was not crowded.
For starters, you should go to VisitMaryland.org and download the Harriet Tubman UGGR driving tour guide – having this downloaded and in hand would have made EVERYTHING so much easier! There are other brochures you can download there to enhance the whole experience. We didn’t have any of that but I’d love to actually plan this and do it again. I really want an opportunity to get inside the Visitors’ Museum which is a gorgeous building.
It wasn’t perfect but it was a very full day and I saw byroads I’ve never been on and I’ve been traipsing around the Eastern Shore since I was eight years old. Also lots of corn and soybean fields. Lots. and. lots. The occasional sunflower field was a delight.
The numbers refer to markers on the UGGR Trail. We didn’t visit them all – some we couldn’t find, some were just unremarkable, some were too much for a one day tour.
#17. Bucktown Village Store Harriet’s first act of defiance, which was almost her last. She credit’s her uncombed hair “which stood out like a bushel basket” for saving her life.
#19. Scott’s Chapel. ” Harriet Tubman’s master, Edward Brodess, was a member of the congregation founded here in 1812. Tubman, her mother, and siblings may have worshipped here with other enslaved families and their owners. “
#23. Linchester Mill. I really enjoyed this one. There was a lot to look at around it and a good leg stretch. ” Daily life around Linchester Mill provided fertile yet dangerous ground for those seeking freedom. Whites and blacks, free and enslaved, would have regular contact here, at the general store or the post office. Free and enslaved African Americans worked side-by-side, providing a constant flow of information and support to freedom seekers. Quakers and free blacks who lived near the mill secretly helped fleeing slaves pass through the area. ” You can also peek through the windows of the Hog Island School which is found on the Linchester campus.
#27 Webb Cabin ” James H. Webb, a free African-American farmer, built this hand-hewn log home around 1852 and lived here with his enslaved wife and their four children – Charles, Elizabeth, John and Ann, and Webb’s father, Henry. The family were members of nearby Mount Pleasant Church. The one-room home, with its “potato hole,” open fireplace, and loft accessed by a crude ladder, was built of materials found nearby. It sits on its original ballast-stone foundation from ships that plied the Chesapeake Bay. ” This was another favorite visit of mine. The inside of the cabin is available through a glass panel the size of a regular door. It reminded me a lot of the cabin on the grounds of St Mary’s City in Maryland.
#29 William Still Interpretive Center. Not open yet but a far cry from the original building picture they have on the web site!
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Oh, interesting! I wish I was in your part of the country. That waterman’s mural is gorgeous! All these buildings, the history, reminds me of trips my family took when we were young kids. Fun and educational.