Underground Railroad in Sodus Point - Sodus Point, New York - Underground Railroad Sites on Waymarking.com

Inscription on the panel:

Underground Railroad in Sodus Point

This mural depicts a scene of the Underground Railroad. From stories passed down there were several safe houses in this area that were used to harbor "Freedom Seekers". These included the old Cohn Farm and the old Sodus Fruit Farm and what is now Maxwell Creek B&B and Silver Waters B&B. Sometimes a schooner, out of the old Sodus Point ore dock, would pick up slaves on its way to Canada.

Captain George (1832-1906) ran a freight schooner (sail only) out of Sodus Point, NY named "Free Trader" in the mid 1800's. It was a two masted, one deck, 46 ton, squared stern, carved head schooner with a crew of four. He would take a load of lumber or ore from Sodus Point to go across to Canada. The schooner would leave anytime day or night depending on the weather. He would sometimes be going on Lake Ontario westward and then north toward Brighton, Ontario. (A small town pretty much right across the lake from Rochester). If he saw a small rowboat offshore with people on it, he would stop and pick them up. These fugitives slaves would come from the Cohn Farm and Old Sodus Fruit Farm (Old Swales Farm) and gather at a bluff overlooking Lake Ontario now known as "Freedom Hill". If daytime they would see the schooner coming and at night time they used a lantern to get its attention. They would then go out in a small boat.

These African-American people would then be "stowed away" on board until reaching Canada. Captain Garbuck would then return with a load of grain to one of the local gristmills, or whatever he was bringing back from Canada.

Also pictured on the mural are the images of Frederick Douglass (Roherster, NY) and Harriett Tubman (Auburn NY) who were well known area African-American abolitionists.

Austin Steward was a slave who spent a year in Sodus Point and later would become a free man and well known author and abolitionist. In his book entitled "Twenty Two Years A Slave and Forty Years a Freeman", he devotes a chapter about his experiences in Sodus Point. He wrote this about the "Underground Railroad": "Is not the necessity of an "underground railroad" a disgrace to the laws of any country? Certainly it is; yet I thank God, that it does afford a means of escape for many, and I pray that the blessings of Heaven may ever rest upon those who willingly superintended its interests.

Address: 8364 Bay St #139 Sodus Point, New York United States Web site: [Web Link] Site Details: Panel is outside on the East side of the Sodus Point Fire Department Club Room Open to the public?: Public Name of organization who placed the marker: Neighborhood Assocation of Sodus Point

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