By 1831, over 10,000 enslaved people and over 17,000 free people of color lived in Baltimore. Nat Turner’s rebellion in August that year made the churches even more important to the Maritime Underground Railroad. An integral part of its function in Baltimore was the African Methodist Bethel Society, founded in 1815. It incorporated the Bethel AME Church in 1816 for the Black community. The enslaved could attend, but could not become members under Maryland law.

TheThis is the grim reality behind the story in my historical fiction/magical realism book for ages 9-12. I don’t go into this much historical detail but focus on what they see around them and its effects on them as the enslaved twins escape on the UGRR. I can’t help but think of the immigrant families being locked away.

Virginia was one of the largest slave-holding states, with its port city of Norfolk being the fifth largest hub in the slave trade. In the 1830 federal census, Norfolk’s Black and white population was almost half and half. Many free and enslaved Blacks worked in the maritime industry. This made Norfolk a major port on the Maritime Underground Railroad. Many smaller Black churches and neighborhoods existed to help plan and execute fugitive escapes. Workers knew which ships’ ca

The Lake Drummond Hotel (also called the Halfway House) is on the state line between Virginia and North Carolina, along the Dismal Canal. The Halfway House presented an excellent option for illegal dueling, gambling, or a lover’s tryst. A criminal needed only to cross the building’s central state line to be in the other state.