The Great Dismal Swamp - Underground Railroad Sites on Waymarking.com

I recently had the opportunity to visit The Great Dismal Swamp on the Northeast boarder of North Carolina and Southeast border of Virginia. It’s now a National Wilderness and Wildlife Refuge Park known for it birds and wildlife. So why would I visit a place call The Great Dismal Swamp? Good question considering my extreme dislike of mosquitoes ?. The Great Dismal Swamp was home to thousands of escaped slaves prior to emancipation. They were called Maroons and they lived in the swamp. The swamp is connected with the intercoastal waterway that extends North to the Chesapeake Bay area and South to the Florida Everglades. Escaped slaves could live in the swamp and trade with local townships. George Washington initiated a project to build a series of canals through the swamp to aid trade and transportation. Free men and slaves were used for the labor. Washington inadvertently created escape routes for slaves and afforded slaves had the most extensive knowledge of the swamps. Although there were several attempts to clear the runaway slaves from the swamp, these efforts were largely unsuccessful because runaways could effectively not be found. After emancipation, Maroons were employed by the timber industry as labor to help logging in the swamp. Later the swamp attracted many hunters. Once it became a protected wilderness area, the old hunting lodges and homes were torn down. Archeologists are trying to uncover more documentation of the maroon communities. Currently, there is an Underground Railroad Pavilion in the swamp displaying information about the escaped slave communities of The Great Dismal Swamp.

Address: Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge 3100 Desert Rd Sulfolk, VA USA 23434 Web site: [Web Link] Site Details: Free, Open Sunrise to Sunset Open to the public?: Public Name of organization who placed the marker: National Underground Railroad: Network to Freedom

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