Underground Railroad: Network Guides Estimated 100,000 to Freedom

The Underground Railroad was a decentralized network of routes, safe houses, conductors, and freedom-seekers stretching from the Deep South to Canada. Historians estimate 30,000 to 100,000 people escaped via the Railroad between 1810 and 1860. Key conductors included Harriet Tubman, John Parker (a free Black man in Ripley, Ohio who crossed the Ohio River to guide freedom-seekers north), Levi and Catherine Coffin, and Thomas Garrett. The network was predominantly organized and run by free Black communities.