THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD/ABOLITION BOATS PROVIDE AN ESCAPE TO FREEDOM IN ERIE COUNTY
Location: Shoreline Park, near 411 East Shoreline Drive, Sandusky OH
Side 1: The Underground Railroad was neither underground nor a railroad, but a system of loosely connected safe havens where those escaping the brutal conditions of slavery were sheltered, fed, clothed, nursed, concealed, disguised, and instructed during their journey to freedom. Although this movement was one of America’s greatest social, moral, and humanitarian endeavors, the details about it were often cloaked in secrecy to protect those involved from retribution of civil law and slave-catchers. Ohio’s history has been permanently shaped by the thousands of runaway slaves passing through or finding permanent residence in this state
Side 2: The proximity of the mouth of the Sandusky Bay to the Lake Erie Islands leading north to Canada was crucial in safely transporting runaway slaves to freedom. Several types of vessels to as “abolition boats”. The fearless men who captained these crafts had to be skilled in navigating the treacherous waterways that poured into the western basin of Lake Erie. Runaways could earn passage to Canada by working in or around the shipyards that lined the mile-long waterfront of Sandusky. Passage to the Lake Erie Islands and Canada beyond, could be made by sled during the cold of winter, a method of travel that also entailed risk. The abolition boats included: Walk-in-the-Water, Superior, The Arrow, United States, Bay City, Mayflower, May Queen, Morning Star, and others. The captains included: Captain Shepherd, Captain Swiegel, Captain Thomas McGee (owner of the Steamboat Hotel), and others. There is so much more about the Underground Railroad on our Walking Tour.
SHORELINE PARK is now the Leonard J. Thom Shoreline Park – Sandusky has renamed a park to honor Leonard Thom, a World War II hero from Sandusky involved in one of the war’s best-known incidents. During the Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 public meeting, Sandusky city commissioners voted to rename Shoreline Park in downtown Sandusky to Leonard J. Thom Shoreline Park. The change takes immediate effect. READ ABOUT LEONARD THOM HERE.