NW Indiana -                                          Specific sites and projects

For freedom seekers and the UGRR

on the Chicago to Detroit Freedom Trail

Larry McClellan – 10/25/2023

This is an intial, beginnings list !!

Little Calumet River UGRR Project

Supported by Indiana Landmarks

Black Heritage Preservation Grant

& Calumet Heritage Partnership

Significant research is needed on specific sites and projects in northern Indiana.

(Over time, sites & topics will be added and dropped)

Specific projects:

            Develop general historic marker/interpretive site:

                        (Somewhere – the Chicago Detroit Road story)

                        (Somewhere – the Sauk Trail story)

                        (Somewhere – Freedom Seekers in NW Indiana/in

                                    Northern Indiana)

For the Chicago Detroit Freedom Trail: 

            Initial guidebooks for sections/states

Initial detailed maps

Guidebook and Maps

Phone app

Interactive website

            Collecting freedom seeker stories through NW Indiana

            Plan for a Northern Indiana Freedom Trail extending

                          from the CDFT to Fremont

            In and from Ft. Wayne – freedom seeker journeys and

                          UGRR sites from Ft. Wayne north

Lake County:

            Hammond –  Homan’s Bridge

                                    Kitty Gibson story

            Gary –            Gibson’s Tavern

                                    Exact route of Chi-Det Road through Gary

            **

            Dyer –              State Hotel

            Merrillville –   Dr. Palmer site and work

Porter County

            In the Dunes -           the lakeside shipwreck

            Tremont –                  Green’s Tavern

            Chesterton -              possible sites in and near

            -           -

            W of Valparaiso -      W. B. Williams family

SW of Valparaiso -    Aberdeen Inn and Rigg family

            N of Valparaiso –      Norman Tanner family

            Westville –                 Quaker Community and Union Church

                         Families of Johnathan Williams & son,

                                   Levi Reynolds,  others

                         Charles Osborn

                         Quaker Cemetery

            Wanatah –                  south of Westville - Perrin 

                                                       Scarborough family & others

La Porte County

Michigan City –       Train depot – 2 Railroad lines

                                                 Harper family

                                                 Elias Taylor home

            SE of Michigan City –          Low farm and cemetery

Bigelow’s Mills – Bigelows

La Porte -                  Dr. Abraham Teegarden 

                                                 Potentials – McCaskey & King &

                                                           Downing families

NE of La Porte -       Banks settlement

      Contact the Little Calumet River Underground Railroad

                      Project through their Facebook page.

      Tom Shepherd            tomshepherd2001@yahoo.com

      Larry McClellan        mcclellan.larry@gmail.com     

      Brother Sage Gillam  providingoptions@yahoo.com