As I was doing my journey on the Harriet Tubman Byway and the history of the years before the civil war it occurred to me how the Choptank River is an important part of the journey from force servitude to freedom and played a huge part in the Underground Railroad.
From colonial times until the railroads came, rivers were the the primary means of transporting goods and people. Roads were often rough and during rain storms muddy. They just couldn’t take the the burden of large loads.
The nearly 75 mile river is the longest on Maryland’s Eastern Shore with its headwaters beginning in Delaware. The river still flows through a diverse natural landscape, not that much different than it was in the early 19th century.
The river’s depth in places are as much as 30 to 50 feet. This would make it hard for those escaping the bondage of slavery. Especially when most did not know how to swim. And as seen in this photo, taken at the Dover Bridge, the river’s shores at times are marshy.
Towns sprung up along the river shores. Some of them, Cambridge, Denton and Greensboro remain, but many others are just a shadow from the past. One of those locations is Gilpin Point (stop 28). Vessels were use to transport slaves, sometimes even to smuggle them to freedom. Near the location of Gilpin Point was the plantation of Dr. Anthony Thompson’s where Tubman’s parents lived.
I have spent time at Martinak State Park and while walking the trails I can just imagine Tubman and others traveling through areas similar to the park. Traveling quietly through areas without defined paths on their journey northward.
The wharf at Denton has two stops (31 and 32) on the Tubman Byway. One on each side of the river.
I didn’t visit every stop on the Byway. I didn’t follow the last stages of the journey in Delaware. Even on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, there are stops I haven’t seen. Which just goes to show that the journey, which can be made in one long day, should be one to take in pieces. A journey to be taken in ways to take in the byway fully.
The Choptank River at Martinak State Park.
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This concludes the 4-part series on the Harriet Tubman Byway. Only a few of the 45 points on the Byway was covered by this series so there is much more to see and learn about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. I hope that these pieces will peak an interest for you to take the journey. I know I still will be taking them.
The first – Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center
The second – Stops in Cambridge, MD
The third – Crossing the Mason-Dixon into Delaware
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Each Friday a photo-essay by photographer SG (Steve) Atkinson will appear with information and photographs of ‘Points of Interest’ on the MD Eastern Shore. Click Here to see previous photo-essays.
Visit his Website ShoreToBePhotographs.com for more information about him and his work.