NATIONAL UNDERGROUND RAILROAD MUSEUM

MAYSVILLE, KY

Lost Davis Lane Bridge (Mason County, Kentucky) Lost Pratt through truss bridge on Davis Lane over the North Fork of the Licking River in Mason County, Kentucky. The historic bridge was constructed in 1894 by the Toledo Bridge Company. It was closed to traffic in 2019 and replaced by a new bridge in 2020.
Lost Davis Lane Bridge (Mason County, Kentucky) Credit: cmh2315fl

The National Underground Railroad Museum is a historic site located in Maysville, Kentucky that serves to preserve the legacy of the Underground Railroad, a network of individuals and safe houses that helped slaves escape from the South to freedom in the North in the years leading up to the Civil War. The museum is housed in a restored 1835 church building that was used as a hiding place for runaway slaves.

The museum features a range of exhibits and artifacts that explore the history of the Underground Railroad, including interactive displays, photographs, and personal accounts of those who escaped slavery. Visitors can learn about the various routes and methods used by fugitive slaves to escape, as well as the challenges and dangers they faced along the way. The museum also highlights the courageous individuals who risked their own safety to help slaves escape, including conductors and station masters.

In addition to its exhibits, the National Underground Railroad Museum offers a range of educational programs, including guided tours, workshops, and lectures. The museum is open year-round and welcomes visitors of all ages and backgrounds. With its rich history and engaging exhibits, the National Underground Railroad Museum is an important destination for anyone interested in the history of slavery and the fight for freedom in America.

NATIONAL UNDERGROUND RAILROAD MUSEUM is a Uncategorized or General Museum in MAYSVILLE KY. US MID #8402100382

The museum is classed as GMU (Uncategorized or General Museums). It comes under American Alliance of Museums (AAM) region: Southeastern (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia).

Lost Davis Lane Bridge (Mason County, Kentucky) Lost Pratt through truss bridge on Davis Lane over the North Fork of the Licking River in Mason County, Kentucky. The historic bridge was constructed in 1894 by the Toledo Bridge Company. It was closed to traffic in 2019 and replaced by a new bridge in 2020.
Lost Davis Lane Bridge (Mason County, Kentucky) Lost Pratt through truss bridge on Davis Lane over the North Fork of the Licking River in Mason County, Kentucky. The historic bridge was constructed in 1894 by the Toledo Bridge Company. It was closed to traffic in 2019 and replaced by a new bridge in 2020.
Flemingsburg, KY Flemingsburg is a small town northeast of Lexington, KY. It is the county seat of Fleming County. The courthouse, the third one, was built in 1952.
'Ye that dare oppose not only tyranny but the tyrant, stand forth!' –quote by Thomas Paine in his publication, Common Sense, 1776 Above is an American Revolutionary War re-enactor at the Battle of Blue Licks re-enactment, Kentucky.
Revolutionary War re-enactor, Battle of Blue Licks Daniel Boone's son, Israel, was shot dead with his father right next to him in one of the Revolutionary War’s last battles, the Battle of Blue Licks, Kentucky.
A reenactor explains to the crowd how 125 Augusta, Kentucky men battled against seven companies of raiding Confederate soldiers This reenactor explains to the small crowd in words close to what the city website says about the skirmish. This is <a href="https://www.augustaky.com/history-of-augusta" rel="noreferrer nofollow"> what the website</a> says: "On September 27, 1862, Colonel Basil Duke led seven companies of Confederate soldiers to Cemetery Hill, above the small town of Augusta. With two pieces of artillery and 350 of [Confederate general John Hunt Morgan] Morgan's finest Raiders, Duke hoped to disperse the Union militia of 125 men stationed there (led by Colonel Joshua T. Bradford and known as the "Home Guard") before crossing the Ohio River and moving on Cincinnati. …Duke's horsemen rode into town, expecting a quick surrender. Instead, the residents of Augusta met the Rebs with a hail of gunfire, mounting a stiff defense that ultimately resulted in hand-to-hand fighting. Duke later reported, 'The hand-to-hand fighting in the houses...was the fiercest and hottest I ever saw. I witnessed in some of them the floors piled with corpses and blood trickling down the stairways.' ​ About fifteen Union soldiers were killed or wounded in the battle. Duke's losses were considerably more severe, with seventy-five to one hundred of his soldiers wounded or killed. Although the Confederates eventually forced the militia to surrender, the battle caused Duke to abandon his plans of taking the war onto Northern soil."
Kentucky men put their women and children in this huge wine cellar to protect them from raiding Confederate soldiers ... before the men themselves went off to save their town of Augusta and stop the Confederates. (Baker-Bird Winery, owners of this place, say it is America's oldest wine cellar.)
Kentuckian Civil War hero U.S. Brigadier Major General William 'Bull' Nelson of Maysville needs a statue in Kentucky During the Civil War, only William "Bull" Nelson was both a Brigadier Major General of the U.S. Army and a commander in the U.S. Navy. Maysville, Kentucky native Nelson was a graduate of the first class of the brand-new U.S. Naval Academy. Nelson has an interesting story for the rough political times of America in the mid-nineteenth century. The son of a Maysville physician rose in the Navy’s ranks in his unwavering support of the United States and Kentucky. His town was an Underground Railroad stop. He had no slaves. During his Navy stint, Nelson joined the USS Niagara in its 1858 mission of returning captured slaves to their freedom in Monrovia, Liberia. On only the second day after Abraham Lincoln's inauguration, Nelson showed up in the new President’s office at the White House to offer his services in defending the United States. "As a Kentuckian, Nelson could have sympathized with the Confederates but, like his state, he remained loyal to the United States of America."* The Kentuckian was transferred from the Navy to the Army. The U.S. Army was in great need of his leadership at the outset of the war. William Nelson successfully recruited thousands of Kentuckians to the U.S. cause in the Civil War–an activity that his Confederate counterparts floundered at. In one of his Kentucky recruitment efforts, this one just south of his hometown of Maysville, recruits were led by him to defend their native Kentucky and defeat a Confederacy invasion at West Liberty. At the Battle of Ivy Mountain, Confederates abandoned Piketown in Eastern Kentucky to U.S. troops, who were also under General Nelson's command, led on the ground by Colonel Joshua Still. Nelson did well for his state. There was yet more to come. "Nelson commanded the Fourth Division and that unit became the first to enter Nashville [to occupy the Confederate state capitol for the United States just months after its lawmakers declared secession] on February 25, 1862."* In his book, Grant, author Ron Chernow observed: "Even as General Buell approached Nashville from the north, Grant sent William “Bull” Nelson—a brash six-foot-five general weighing three hundred pounds—to beat him there, and Buell was bitter at being denied the glory of conquering the first Confederate capital."** Nelson led troops at the Battle of Shiloh as part of the left flank of Ulysses S. Grant’s successful second-day counteroffensive that won the battle. Other noticeable U.S. generals who fought against that Confederate surprise attack were William Sherman and W.H.L. Wallace (who was shot in the head during the battle and died). Although Shiloh was the bloodiest battle in the Western Hemisphere, Grant greatly valued that battle experience. That tough win for U.S. troops would mold great commanders and tough soldiers. As the war went on, Grant would come to depend and lean more and more on the names at Shiloh. "Shiloh was one of the most important battles in the war," said Ulysses S. Grant in an interview with reporter John Russell Young in his book of 1879, Conversations with General Grant. "It was there that our Western soldiers first met the enemy in a pitched battle. From that day they never feared to fight the enemy, and never went into action without feeling sure they would win." After participating in the Siege of Corinth, it was Bull Nelson who was one of the earliest to enter and occupy that city for the federal government. I think it safe to say that even if Nelson had a battle loss from time to time during the entire Civil War, Nelson would still have had a bright military career ahead of him under Grant, who had a history of appreciating, strategizing, and working closely with the Navy. Grant thought of water highways and confluences as critical conduits of supply lines and offensive maneuvers that won wars. He knew Nelson was the only general who had practical army and navy commanding experience. Bull Nelson’s rise came to a premature end in the Fall of 1862, when he was killed in Louisville, Kentucky by a bullet from a sick and irate Jeff Davis (no, not the Confederate President but the Union general from Indiana), who had his honor impugned when Nelson angrily blamed Davis for the Union loss at Richmond, Kentucky, which cost many lives of Nelson's new Kentuckian volunteers. As time has passed, Brigadier Major General "Bull" Nelson has been greatly underappreciated in his home state for his significant accomplishments for the United States and Kentucky during the early part of the Civil War. Nelson was somewhat like Confederate General Stonewall Jackson. Had he heard my comparison, Bull Nelson would probably argue that he was much better. The Confederate hero, Stonewall Jackson, was killed early in the war by friendly fire from his own troops. Yet, in his honor, Pro-Union West Virginia**, which declared its independence from the Confederacy to form its own state apart from Virginia, erected a statue on its state capitol grounds of Clarksburg-born Stonewall Jackson, a man who fought against the state. In contrast, Kentucky and the United States have their hero in William “Bull” Nelson, who fought for them, not against them. But unlike Stonewall, Bull Nelson, who had Shiloh, Nashville, and Corinth under his belt, has no statue, only a tombstone. Before his death, Nelson’s star had already gone far in the United States and Kentucky. Had he lived, Nelson would likely have gone much further. Kentuckians and Maysvillians, you should build a statue in honor of your native son. He did you proud. ------- *Source: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_" rel="noreferrer nofollow">Wikipedia</a> **Chernow, Ron. Grant (p. 188). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. ***Unlike pro-United States Kentucky, whose men overwhelmingly joined U.S. forces (thank you General Nelson), West Virginia purportedly had a roughly equal body of men on each side, ~20,000 joined the Confederate Army and ~20,000 joined the U.S. Army. See Snell, Mark A., West Virginia and the Civil War, History Press, 2011, pg. 28, ISBN 978-1-59629-888-0
American diner
Augusta reenactor on the Ohio This 19th-Century dressed lady is part of a dancing troop that participates in Augusta’s day of remembering its <a href="https://explorekyhistory.ky.gov/items/show/15#" rel="noreferrer nofollow">Civil War skirmish</a>. It is apparent that Augusta at the end of the day is an artsy small town, even when reenacting the battle by its home guard against Morgan's raiders of the Confederate Army. The attack on the small Kentucky community was led by Basil Duke, after the killing of its Confederate commander John Hunt Morgan by U.S. troops in Eastern Tennessee. A pro-Union Eastern Tennessean gave Morgan’s position away.
Day's end on the Ohio It is not just the sunset that occupies my thoughts. Looking from the shore of the historic town of Augusta, Kentucky (est. 1786) over the Ohio River, I see the sun setting over the shore of the short-lived spiritualist utopian society of Utopia, Ohio (est. 1844). This place is filled with history.
Battle of Blue Licks reenactor

Contact NATIONAL UNDERGROUND RAILROAD MUSEUM

NATIONAL UNDGRD RR MUSEUM INC
PO BOX 421
MAYSVILLE
KY
41056-0421

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NATIONAL UNDERGROUND RAILROAD MUSEUM Information

MID # 8402100382
Name NATIONAL UNDGRD RR MUSEUM INC
Alternate Name NATIONAL UNDERGROUND RAILROAD MUSEUM
Classification Uncategorized or General Museums, , Southeastern
Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN) 611290697
NTEECC A50
Tax period of the latest return filed (YYYYMM)
INCOME 0
REVENUE 0
LAT/LONG 38.643668, -83.763845
CODES FIPS State Code: 21
FIPS County Code: 161
US Census Tract: 960300
US Census Block: 1018