Posted Feb 7, 2017 | Updated Jan 27, 2020

History abounds at Leesylvania State Park, and as a commemoration for Black History Month, the park will feature a special exhibition throughout the end of February.

Through this exhibit you can learn more about ties the location of the park had to the Underground Railroad's Network to Freedom. 

Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad was not something you could ride like a train, and with the exception of cellars, intermittent hidden rooms and tunnels throughout the South and North and sometimes all the way into Canada, it was not underground. It was in effect, a network of people (conductors), places (stations) and secret routes to help courageous slaves (passengers) on the path to freedom. One of the most unique and well thought out signs along the trail were the messages hidden in the stitches and patterns of beautifully handmade quilts. 

Location

Leesylvania State Park, Prince William County, Virginia, a 508 acre tract of a 2,000 acre estate patented in 1658, is significant to the Underground Railroad because of fifteen runaways and is included in the National Park Services Network to Freedom. Leesylvania, which means “Lee’s Woods,” was the circa 1750 home of Henry Lee II and birthplace of Henry Lee III, Revolutionary War hero and father of General Robert E. Lee. 

Nineteenth century owners were: Charles Lee; Martha Lindsay Fairfax Robertson; and Lt. Col. John Walter Fairfax. A significant part of all of the owner’s farms was the fishery at Freestone Point (due to the fishery income) which is retained in the present park acreage.

Leesylvania

Cate and Sinah, the 18th century runaway enslaved persons were advertised in Virginia Journal and Alexandria Advertiser, October 21, 1784, Leesylvania.

The 19th century runaways listed in Alexandria Gazette are:

“Andrew and James, June 12, 1807, Leesylvania Farm; Daniel, Feb. 25, 1848, Freestone Farm; Henry and Betsy, June 26, 1856, Ohio Farm; and (Henry, Betsy), Tom, Armstead, Littlton, Abram, and Moses, Ohio Farm, August 15, 1856.  Five Negro (four men and one woman) escaped to the U. S. Steam Sloop Seminole on September 23, 1861, reporting Confederate troop numbers and the Freestone Point Confederate Battery location.”

Symbols for freedom

What did flying geese have to do with finding food and water or how broken dishes would signal a message?

Find out how these quilts were placed for fleeing slaves to get special messages, and of the story they would tell along this network to freedom. 

For these answers, and to learn more about the National Park Service National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom designation of Leesylvania State Park head over to the Visitor Center Friday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. until February 29, 2020.

Leesylvania State Park is located near Woodbridge, Virginia along the Potomac River. Click here for a Google Map. The Visitor Center phone number is (703) 730-8205 for more information.