The Friends of Freedom Society 
Ohio Underground Railroad Association

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Site Flags

Imagine yourself driving through an Ohio community for the first time. You wonder about its history, about whether the tired feet of fugitive slaves heading north to freedom ever walked those streets in the days before the Civil War. As you pass the older section of town, you catch a glimpse of red out of the corner of your eye. Could it be? Yes! There in the window hangs an Ohio Underground Railroad Historic Site flag. It is a goal of the Friends of Freedom Society and the Ohio Underground Railroad Association to mark significant Underground Railroad sites throughout our state with our distinctive flag, a program that began in 1999.
 
bulletSites with Flags
bulletCriteria for Site Flags
bulletCommunity Markers

Sites with Flags

Please remember, that most of these sites are private residences.  These sites are NOT open to the public.  Please respect the privacy of the current owners!

Funding for our initial 100 marker flags was made possible through a grant from the Ohio Arts Council.  Please see the press release for more information.

CENTRAL

bulletSamuel Moore House - Circleville 
bulletAnsel Matoon house - Worthington 
bulletWilliam Hanby House - Westerville 
bulletKelton House - Columbus 
bulletLivingston House - Reynoldsburg 
bulletDr. Simon Hyde House - Rushville 
bulletAlum Creek Friends Meeting Church - Marengo 
bulletReuben Benedict House - Marengo 
bulletAaron L. Benedict House - Marengo 
bulletCaroline Brown House - Columbus 
bulletOzem Gardner House - Worthington 
bulletHenry & Dolley Turk House - Worthington 
bulletKappa Sigma Sigma House (Henry Neil Mansion) - Columbus
bulletSouthwick-Good Funeral Chapel (Clintonville Methodist Church) - Clintonville 
bulletDavid Osborn Farm - Marengo 
bulletDavid & Nancy Grahm House - Reynoldsburg

NORTH CENTRAL

bulletOran Follett House - Sandusky 
bulletJoseph M. Root House - Sandusky 
bulletSecond Baptist Church - Sandusky 
bulletRush R. Sloane House - Sandusky 
bulletFountain House - Fitchville

SOUTH

bulletTanglewood - Chillicothe 
bulletPaint Hill - Chillicothe 
bulletJohn Gee AME Church - Gallipolis 
bulletJohn Campbell Memorial House - Ironton 
bulletEden Baptist Church
bulletDufour House - Gallipolis

NORTH EAST

bulletJoshua Giddings Law Office - Ashtabula 
bulletCol. William Hubbard House - Ashtabula 
bulletUnionville Tavern - Unionville 
bulletWilson Bruce Evans House - Oberlin 
bulletTappan House - Unionville 
bulletRider's Inn - Painesville 
bulletSt. Johnıs Episcopal Church - Cleveland 
bulletBurrell-King House - Oberlin

SALT FORK

bulletPhillip Delany House - Hopedale 
bulletCroco House - Holmesville 
bulletBenjamin Lundy Historic House - Mt. Pleasant 
bulletPutnam Presbyterian Church - Zanesville 
bulletStone Academy - Zanesville

SOUTH EAST

bulletPorter-Riggs B&B House - Little Hocking 
bulletCurtis-Sawyer House - Little Hocking 
bulletDaniel Weethee House - Millfield 
bulletAffadilla Deaver House - Deavertown

SOUTH WEST

bulletJohn P. Parker House - Ripley 
bulletRev. John Rankin House - Ripley 
bulletSpread Eagle Tavern - Cincinnati 
bulletMoses Vance Rawlings - Washington C.H. 
bulletSamuel Wilson House - Cincinnati 
bulletHenry T. Butterworth Farm - Loveland 
bulletJames Stanton House - Springboro 
bulletJonathan T. Wright House - Springboro William 
bulletUstick House - Washington C.H. 
bulletJames Alexander House - Bloomingburg 
bulletBloomingburg Presbyterian Church - Bloomingburg 
bulletAdam Steele House - Bloomingburg 
bulletEbenezer McElroy Home - Washington C.H.

NORTH WEST

bulletDr. Patterson House - Napoleon
bulletNewell Store & House - Napoleon
bulletCongregational Church - Ridgeville
bulletJohn Flory House - Defiance
bulletLewis Eckhart Home - Wauseon
bulletHouse of Four Pillars - Maumee
bulletAmasa Winslow & Blacksmith - Maumee
bulletMaumee Color Co. - Maumee
bullet1st Methodist Episcopal Church - Perrysburg
bulletLathrop/Vogt House - Sylvania
bulletHarroun Farm - Sylvania
bulletOliver House - Toled

FAR EAST

bulletJacob Heaton House & Store - Salem
bulletAmbrose Hart Store - Brookfield
bulletHezlip House - Farmdale
bulletDaniel Howell Hise House - Salem
bulletJonas Cattell House - Salem
bulletMaple-Dell House - Salem
bulletLiberty Hall - Salem
bulletJohn Street House - Salem

WEST

bulletAnson Howard House - Woodstock
bulletMethodist Episcopal Church - Mechanicsburg
bulletGeorge Gammon House - Springfield
bulletDavid & Elizabeth Laughhead House - Xenia
bulletLaura Ann Smith - Xenia/Wilberforce
bulletElizabeth Piatt Cabin - West Liberty
bulletThomas Jay House - West Milton
bulletSamuel & Ann Jones - West Milton
bulletDaniel & Susan Miller House - Dayton
bulletJesse Stubbs - West Elkton

WEST CENTRAL

bulletWheelerıs Tavern - Pfeiffers Station
bulletBlack & White School - Mt. Victory
bulletObadiah & Sarah Williams Home - Mt. Victory

EAST

bulletFree Congregational Church - Hudson
bulletOwen Brown Bank - Munroe Falls
bulletJohn Brown Tannery Park - Kent
bulletSpring Hill - Massillon
bulletJohn Brown Tenant House - Akron
bulletDavid Hudson House - Hudson
bulletCase-Barlow Historic Farmstead - Hudson
bulletWestern Reserve College - Hudson
bulletAsahel Kilbourne House - Hudson
bulletJohn Brown House - Richfield
bulletHarrison Blake House - Medina
bulletEzra Garrett House - Savannah 

Criteria for Site Flags

Ohio Underground Railroad flags are awarded to sites which have strong documentation which associates them with the Underground Railroad and with the anti-slavery movement. The red and black flags are 10" by 15" and should be prominently displayed. Nominations for flags are made through recommendation by the Ohio Underground Railroad Association Regional Coordinators with the State Coordinator making the final decision. Eligibility for flags is based on the establishment of clear evidence as to the validity of a site's claim. Eligible properties should demonstrate one or more of the following types of documentation:

  1. A first hand account written before the passage 13th Amendment in which an eyewitness states that Underground Railroad activity was taking place. 
  2. Accounts written later, but by individuals who took part in the Underground Railroad. Proof of affiliation with the anti-slavery movement needs to be substantiated by primary evidence created before the passage of the 13th Amendment (such as membership in an anti-slavery society, letters to the editor in local newspapers denouncing slavery and/or the Fugitive Slave Laws, membership in an abolitionist church, or signing a petition advocating immediate emancipation) 
  3. Published community histories based on eyewitness accounts and which meet the criteria outlined in Item #2 
  4. Archival resources such as the Wilbur Siebert Papers at the Ohio Historical Society and works which derive from such papers (eg. Siebert's The Mysteries of Ohio's Underground Railroads) 
  5. Scholarly architectural and historical studies which associate a structure with an known Underground Railroad agent 6) Oral histories within a community if they meet the criteria outlined in Item #2.
 

SM = Service Mark of the Friends of Freedom Society, Inc.
Copyright İ 2007 Friends of Freedom Society, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.