Underground Railroad: Shawnee National Forest

The Underground Railroad was a vast but secret network of travel routes and safe havens to help fugitives escape slavery, most heavily travelled between 1820 and 1865. Those escaping the slave state of Kentucky likely followed a route northwest by crossing the Ohio River into southern Illinois. Despite its Free State status, there was still hostility toward African Americans in the region, making it dangerous territory for freedom seekers and abolitionists.

To avoid detection, escapees avoided cities and took to the forests and rural routes to reach freedom, some travelling through what is now Shawnee National Forest. Although many continued north, the region of the Shawnee National Forest that lies mostly in Pope County appears to have been a vital point in the Underground Railroad. Here, a free Black community found a home in Miller Grove.

The pioneers of Miller Grove originated primarily from Tennessee. After they gained their freedom, four families settled the Miller Grove area, some traveling alongside their former masters and their families. The free people of Miller Grove built schools and churches among their homes and carved out a new life.

Often free communities like Miller Grove became part of the Underground Railroad. Community members of Miller Grove and surrounding towns served as “conductors” and helped runaways make the terrifying escape to freedom. Today, there is little left of Miller Grove.

However, natural landmarks on the national forest - Ox-Lot, Sand Cave, Crow Knob, Brasher Cave, and Fat Man’s Squeeze - remain as markers of the former community and its Underground Railroad activity. The cemetery with over 100 graves is used for ongoing research, along with Pope County tax records and other legal documents.