Underground Railroad

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The Underground Railroad, a vast network of people who helped fugitive slaves escape to the North and to Canada, was not run by any single organization or person, rather, it consisted of many individuals, white and black, who knew only of the local efforts to aid fugitives and not of the overall operation.

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First Congregational Church of Wayne was right along the route that runaway slaves and their guides would take. Based on stories handed down from person to person, First Congregational Church of Wayne did play a role in the Underground Railroad. There are no written accounts of this activity; however, this was such a secret operation that it would have been dangerous for people or organizations to record such activity.

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Old Historic First Congregational Church of Detroit has built the Underground Railroad Living Museum, which traces the tracks of the slaves once they got to Detroit on their way to Canada.