Network to Freedom Site Designation
Queen Anne’s County is excited to share that a local site has recently been designated within the Network to Freedom program, a national Underground railroad recognition program.
The site, among three others in Maryland, were designated on Monday, November 1st, Maryland’s Emancipation Day. The site, located near Gibson’s Grant, is not currently accessible to the public, although an interpretation panel accessible to the public near the property is being planned in cooperation between the Maryland Office of Tourism and Queen Anne’s County Department of Economic & Tourism Development.
The Maryland Office Of Tourism has recently updated its Network to Freedom Unground Railroad Brochure insert to include the site, which can be read online HERE. Printed copies of the brochure and updated insert will be available at the Chesapeake Heritage and Visitors Center (425 Piney Narrows Road, Chester, MD) beginning in mid-December 2021.
Henry Massey Escape Site
Brief Site History: The Stoopley-Gibson Plantation is where 14-year-old Henry Massey escaped enslavement in 1849. Massey was identified as a runaway slave in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, five years later. Despite legal representation by the Pennsylvania Abolition Society, Massey was convicted at trial and returned to his enslaver. The farm is now the site of Gibson’s Grant community along the Cross Island Trail. Tours and interpretive panels are being planned for the future.