Cincinnati — Underground Railroad Secrets

Your journey begins at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, opened in 2004 on the banks of the Ohio River. This 16,000 m² museum was built on the site of a former slave warehouse, a stark reminder of the past. Here you will discover the original Slave Pen from 1830, rebuilt stone by stone, a direct relic of that dark period. Cincinnati was a crucial city, having helped over 1000 fugitives reach Canada before 1865. The building, designed by architect Richard Fleischman, with its six-story tower, symbolizes the ascent to freedom and marks the starting point of your exploration of Ohio's heritage.

Walking along the Ohio River, you reach the Serpentine Wall, an integral part of Smale Riverfront Park. This 300-meter curved wall, built in 1970 from precast concrete, is inspired by English Victorian walls and offers breathtaking views of the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge. Integrated into The Banks urban development in 2010, it connects historical sites along the river. Although modern in appearance, this promenade has witnessed countless lives and testifies to Cincinnati's transformation, a city that, under its 2023 motto, aims to be a "Junction of the Future" while honoring its past.

Your path then leads you to the Harriet Beecher Stowe House, located at 2390 Victory Parkway, about 2 km from the Freedom Center in the Walnut Hills neighborhood. It was in this house, built in 1833, that Harriet Beecher Stowe lived between 1849 and 1850. Her observations of fugitive slaves crossing the Ohio River were the direct inspiration for her major work, Uncle Tom's Cabin, published in 1852. Restored in 2016, this dwelling is now an abolitionist museum, a key site for understanding the roots of the Underground Railroad Network to Freedom (NPS) and Cincinnati's commitment to the fight against slavery.

Crossing Smale Riverfront Park, opened in 2015 over 18 hectares, you head towards the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge. This park, adjacent to the Freedom Center and the Serpentine Wall, houses the historic 1894 Carousel, restored with its 44 hand-carved animals. It is here, on these banks, that secret passages of the Underground Railroad were documented as early as the 1840s. The Roebling Bridge, completed in 1867, 322 meters long, was the first to use twisted steel wire cables. Located 500m from the Freedom Center, it served as a crossing point for fugitives to the free North, a vital link to freedom along the Ohio River Historic Trail.

Your journey concludes in The Banks district, developed since 2011 over 45 acres between the Freedom Center and Smale Park. This residential and commercial mix is the venue for events like Oktoberfest, celebrated since 1976 on historical sites once frequented by abolitionists. It is in the immediate vicinity of these docks that over 1000 slaves crossed the Ohio to freedom before 1865. The Black Brick Historic District, with its 1830s buildings linked to the slave trade, anchors this neighborhood in a complex and essential history of the Cincinnati Historic District. By completing your interactive tour of Cincinnati, you will have explored a city where every stone tells a story of courage and the quest for freedom.