Underground Railroad presentation set for Apollo’s Drake Log Cabin

The history of the Underground Railroad in the region will come alive today when the Apollo Area Historical Society offers a free presentation about the pathway to freedom at 6:30 p.m. in Apollo’s historic Drake Log Cabin.

The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early to the mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into the free states and Canada.

Denise Doyle, director of the Blairsville Area Underground Railroad History Center, will present the history of Underground Railroad activities in the region.

Although the event will focus on the secret network and safe houses in Indiana County for African Americans escaping slavery, the Apollo area likely played a role, said Sue Ott, vice-president of the historical society.

“Given the Civil War and knowing Apollo’s dedication to the cause and its history for standing up for the right thing, there would have been some involvement in the underground railroad,” she said.

The presence of Apollo native and Civil War General Samuel Jackson, in the town’s cemetery with Civil War soldiers and a Civil War monument shows how prominently the Apollo area supported the Civil War and the freeing of enslaved people, Ott said.

Also, the proximity of the Pennsylvania Canal in the town is a factor.

“The fact it was a canal town makes it very likely that the early residents were engaged in Underground Railroad activity,” Doyle said. The Underground Railroad was active in the region from the early to mid-19th century as an escape route mostly for those who were enslaved in today’s West Virginia to reach Canada, Doyle said. It’s difficult to say how many of these freedom-seekers passed through the region.

One underground railroad conductor, which is a free person who helped enslaved people make their way, in Fairfield Township, Westmoreland County, estimated that she and her husband helped at least 50 Blacks escape slavery, Doyle said.

The Drake Log Cabin is located along William Alley in Apollo. For more information, visit the Society’s website, apollopahistory.com, or call 724-478-2899, or email apollopahistory@gmail.com