Documenting Northwest Indiana’s Freedom Trail

In July of 2023, Indiana Landmarks announced it would provide a $5,000 grant to the Calumet Heritage Partnership (CHP) through their Black Heritage Preservation Project, to help fund CHP and the Little Calumet River Underground Railroad Project’s joint venture in identifying and documenting the Underground Railroad trail through northwest Indiana.

Through research and community engagement, the Underground Railroad Project seeks to describe two major streams of movement by freedom seekers through Northwest Indiana, and to identify significant sites along these routes that are connected to their movement – eventually listing them on the National Parks Service’s (NPS) National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. Among other objectives, they’ll also recommend sites for historic markers, interpretive materials, and possibly exhibits, and develop connections beyond Northwest Indiana as part of a larger Chicago to Detroit Freedom Trail.

This effort is a continuation of the Underground Railroad Project’s work in Illinois, where several years ago they identified the Jan and Aagje Ton Farm site as a stop along the Underground Railroad’s trail in what is now a part of Chicago’s far south side. Thanks to funding from the NPS, a marker now notes the significance of the site, and NPS lists it on the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.