Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway
Poplar Neck, MD

Poplar Neck is a typical mid 19th-century farmstead that was home to the Thompson family and their slaves, including Ben Ross, Harriet Tubman’s father. Tubman’s parents moved here in 1847 and were active in the Underground Railroad. When they were exposed in 1857, she helped them make a dramatic escape to Canada. On Christmas Day 1854, she returned to help her brothers escape. Evidence points to this being the location where Tubman may have liberated herself in 1849.

Today, you can see the privately-owned farmstead from the access road or from the seat of a kayak on the Choptank River.