Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Corridor looking for local input

Apr. 17—There are more than 30 different museums in New York state dedicated to the local history of the Underground Railroad. Now an effort to better connect those places is moving ahead.

The first four public hearings for a proposed New York's Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Corridor will be held in the next few days. Organizers hope to gain input on the planned statewide byway that better recognizes local aspects of history.

The meetings in Western New York will take place at:

—3 p.m. Friday at Erie Canal Cruises, 210 Market St. in Lockport

—11 a.m. Saturday at the Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor, 136 Broadway in Buffalo

—1 p.m. on Sunday at the Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center, 825 Depot Ave. W

—6 p.m. Monday at Legacy Drama House, 112 Webster Ave., Rochester

The group behind the project, the Underground Railroad Consortium of New York State, wants to create a 500-mile route that would connect 34 different sites across 21 counties. It would start at the New York/New Jersey border, travel north along NY Route 9 to Albany, then head west along state Routes 5S, 20, 14, 31, and 265 through the Finger Lakes to Western New York before ending in Niagara Falls.

The consortium was awarded a state EDA Tourism partner Sub-Awards Grant in 2023 worth $519,500 for developing and promoting the byway.

Ally DeGon, the interim director of the Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center and the consortium's president, said the various state Underground Railroad sites talked about having this byway for at least 20 years. The inspiration came from Maryland creating its 125-mile byway that was completed in 2008.

"We talked about building the full connection," DeGon said. She and other consortium members wanted to connect the Maryland byway, in Tubman's home state, to Niagara Falls since she crossed the old suspension bridge near where the current museum stands into Canada.

The byway route would be on local and state roads, following a similar route to the state thruway but not going on any highways. It is not the exact route Tubman and others used to help slaves escape to freedom, but similar to that too since they followed railroads and waterways.

During the public meetings, the consortium wants to hear from the public and stakeholders like tourism professionals, business owners, and other cultural institutions.

"We're looking for anyone who has an investment in history and telling this story," said Josh Poole, an operations specialist at the Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center and part of the consortium's steering committee.

Future public meetings will be in different state regions over the next few months. DeGon said it would take at least another year and a half for the plan to be finished, which would then lead to its final approval from the state Department of Transportation.

The consortium's long-term goal is to have the byway system include New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania, which would receive an All-American Road designation. Such a designation opens the system to federal funding for maintenance and promotion.

They also want to work with the Canadian government to extend this route to St. Catherines, Ont., where Tubman resided and was a member of the Salem Chapel British Methodist Episcopal Church.

Any comments or input from guests unable to attend can be submitted via the corridor portal at www.harritettubmancorridorny.com.