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6 significant Texas sites connected to the Underground Railroad

6 significant Texas sites connected to the Underground Railroad

A replica of the Old Stone Fort in Nacogdoches—the original was a destination escapees sought before the abolition of slavery. (Ernest Mettendorf/CC Public Domain Mark 1.0)

By Joey Held

January 27, 2025

While many enslaved people headed north to Canada, an alternate path sought freedom via a different route, traveling through Texas and into Mexico.

Texas had a significant role in the founding of Juneteenth, which honors the day slavery ended in the United States: June 19, 1865. Opal Lee, the founder of Juneteenth, walked 2.5 miles every day to symbolize the 2.5 years it took for the Emancipation Proclamation to arrive in Texas. She eventually reached Washington, D.C., and led a movement to make Juneteenth a national holiday. 

The Lone Star State also has significance with the Underground Railroad, a network of secret routes, safe houses, and helpers for enslaved people seeking freedom. 

A brief history of the Underground Railroad

Despite the name, escapees using the Underground Railroad typically didn’t travel by train. The term is generally used to refer to anyone who helped enslaved people seeking freedom. The majority of helpers were Black Americans—including many who had escaped from slavery themselves—though there were also white, Mexican, and Spanish people who offered various forms of assistance.

Harriet Tubman, who was recently featured on a commemorative coin and will eventually be on the 20-dollar bill, was a prominent leader and major “conductor” of the Underground Railroad. She escaped enslavement in Maryland in the late 1840s; in the following decade, she made several return trips south to help free others. Tubman’s bravery helped at least 150 people become free, even though she risked her own re-capture. From the 1780s until the abolition of slavery, an estimated 100,000 freedom seekers permanently escaped.  

While many Underground Railroad paths led north to free states or into Canada, Mexico, which had abolished slavery in 1829, was another option. Texas was still part of Mexico and led the Texas Revolution to form the Republic of Texas in 1836, reinstating slavery across the state. 

Researchers believe an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 people escaped south into Mexico, many coming from states farther from the border than Texas. However, the actual number could be even higher. We’ll likely never get an exact count since most runaways didn’t leave records out of fear of being caught, and much of the Underground Railroad network was shrouded in secret by necessity. Unfortunately, many people who attempted escape were captured and either returned to their owners for punishment or killed.

Enslaved people reached Mexico in numerous ways. Some headed south by foot or horse, others snuck onto ferries or other rides en route to Mexico. Tales emerged that some enslaved people even floated bales of cotton along the Rio Grande River to freedom.

Key Underground Railroad locations in Texas

As enslaved people headed south through Texas, they often followed similar paths to reach Mexico. Here are six significant Underground Railroad sites.

1. El Camino Real de los Tejas

The United States National Park Service designated El Camino Real de los Tejas as a National Historic Trail in 2004. Six years later, the NPS shared a route that could be considered the relative path of the South Underground Railroad.

Starting in Natchitoches, Louisiana, the main route crossed into Texas, going through Nacogdoches, San Antonio, and Laredo before ending at the Viceroyalty of New Spain, which is where Mexico City is today.

Though it’s certainly evolved over the years and isn’t an exact replica, you can get a sense of the route by taking Louisiana Highway 6 west, connecting with Texas State Highway 21, and then moving south.

2. Sabine River

Researchers studied an escape attempt in 1804 of over 30 enslaved people to determine another route that people took along the Underground Railroad. They’ve deduced the group likely left Natchitoches and wound through what’s now Kisatchie National Forest. When they reached the Sabine River, they had to decide how and where to cross. 

The two most likely crossing locations were at Darnell’s Ferry (also known as Hamilton’s Ferry) and Palo Gaucho. At certain times of the year, the river was shallow and calm enough that people could simply walk across it. These routes traveled to Nacogdoches and into Spanish communities, which typically welcomed escapees.

3. Jackson Ranch

Nathaniel Jackson was a plantation owner in Alabama. He married a Black woman named Matilda Hicks, and Jackson soon became disenfranchised over what the Confederation stood for. He freed his enslaved people and, along with Hicks, their seven children, and five other families, headed west toward Texas.

The couple set up a cattle ranch and farm in Hidalgo County between Fort Brown and Fort Ringgold. The farm grew sugar cane, cotton, and vegetables while raising goats and sheep. Jackson also hosted a market in Rio Grande City, using his ferry to get goods and people across the river.

Today, you can visit Jackson Ranch Church or stop by Jackson Ranch Cemetery in San Juan, within a mile of the Texas-Mexico border. Nathaniel Jackson is buried among the many tombstones of people from the 19th century. 

4. Webberville and the Webber Ranch/Cemetery

John Webber and his wife, Silvia Hector Webber, were another interracial couple who wed in Texas. The pair had three children, and Webber purchased their freedom from his business partner. They lived for a time in what is now Webberville, a small hamlet east of Austin.

However, Texas remained a slave state, and the Webbers moved closer to the border with Mexico. They settled near the Jackson-Hicks ranch, welcoming in runaways and putting them on their ferry to transport across the border.

Their former home area was renamed Webberville, and the Webber Cemetery in Donna honors their memory and bravery.

5. Nueces Strip

If you’ve ever spent any time during a Texas summer, you know it can get perilously hot. That might be doubly true along the Nueces Strip, a 160-mile stretch between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande.

This area has few trees and receives little rain, resulting in a dry, scorching surface to walk on. People traversing the strip also had to watch out for scorpions and snakes. However, it was worth the trek since reaching the Rio Grande generally meant escaping into Mexico.

6. Stone Fort

As early as 1806, enslaved people visited Stone Fort in Nacogdoches. They shared forged passports they had received, approved by a Kentucky judge, with the Spanish military stationed at the outpost.  

Texas hadn’t yet become a state, so these runaways were technically in free land, especially since the Spanish military usually didn’t turn them in.

The Old Stone Fort was dismantled in 1902, but the civic organization Cum Concilio preserved some of the stones. A replica of the building was reconstructed in 1936, and it was designated a Texas Historic Landmark in 1962. Visitors can walk through this updated building at the Stone Fort Museum at Stephen F. Austin College. Researchers are still uncovering information about the Underground Railroad. Work like the Texas Runaway Slave Project helps us learn more about the brave undertakings people took and paints a picture of what they faced as they headed toward freedom.

This article first appeared on Good Info News Wire and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.6 significant Texas sites connected to the Underground Railroad6 significant Texas sites connected to the Underground Railroad

CATEGORIES: LOCAL HISTORY

Author

  • Joey Held

    Joey Held is a writer and author and the founder of Fun Fact Friyay. He’s regularly planning travel adventures and encourages exploring new places with curiosity and kindness.

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