The Slave Haven Underground Railroad Museum is located in downtown on N Second Street Memphis at the site of the Burkle Estate. Handicap accessible and featuring guided tours all year long, it's a lesser known Memphis attraction that shouldn't be missed.

 

Open 10am-5pm in the summer (June-August) and 10am-4pm the rest of the year, the white clapboard house features displays of ads, auctions, and other artifacts that tell the story of slavery and the underground railroad. The house was built in 1849 by Joseph Burkle, a German livestock trader, bakery owner, and abolitionist. He was a "conductor" on the Underground Railroad from 1855 until the abolition of slavery, and his small, unassuming house was a way station, a place where escaped slaves would rest before continuing North.

 

 

Memphis was the largest slave trading city in the state with more than a dozen slave trading businesses, some a mere 5 minute walk from the Brukle Estate. Featuring 19th century furniture, the main feature of the house is the secret cellar and trapped doors that offered protection to runaway slaves. When you step down into the cellar and kneel on the damp ground, you really get a deeper understanding of the slaves' desperation and plight.

 

 

The guided tour gives additional information on slave trades, runaway slaves, the message system the Underground Railroad used, and travel patterns of escaping slaves.

All the Details:

862 N. Second Street
901-527-3427 | 901-527-7711

http://slavehavenmemphis.com/

 

 

 

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