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Monday, April 18, 2005 We are staying at the Jonathan Wright House built by Springboro founder in 1815. The owners have turned their home into a bed & breakfast. I am in the same bedroom I stayed in when I walked across Ohio a few years ago. Through a Plexiglas insert, you can see the secret hiding place behind the back wall of the walk in closet in the bedroom. There is a crude but sturdy ladder leading up to the hidden trap door. The space looks so much too tight and scary even with an electric light brightly shining. What would it have felt like in the dark? Maybe one, two, or three terrorized, exhausted escapees from slavery crushed into the musty, windowless dark? You can sense the spirit of the freedom seekers and freedom workers in this home. And the owners, Burt Correll and Sterling Gardner, keep history alive through their research, collections, welcoming atmosphere and story telling. This is the oldest home in this town that was settled by a group of Quakers. There are still 27 houses that still exist that were part of the Underground Railroad. If you visit you can get information from the Historical Society that is in the first building, formerly known as Squatter’s House, erected in the area, 5 years before Mr.Wright actually founded the town. (CAN YOU DO THE MATH? HOW OLD IS THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY’S BUILDING?) Come to Springboro, See the stately Wright Home filled with period furniture and memorabilia. (Is your school near Springboro, Ohio? Could your class make a field trip?) Most of the Underground Railroad ‘depots’ or ‘safe houses’ are located on Main Street. And though you cannot go into all of them, because they are private residences, some are businesses and open to the public, and all are clearly marked with historical plaques. This town celebrates the powerful anti-slavery activism of Quaker and non-Quaker residents who worked to do the right thing in that terrible time of slavery. The Springboro Historical Society will schedule group tours with a costumed re-enactor for ten or more people, and there is an annual Freedom Festival the weekend before Memorial Day.
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