DORCHESTER, Md. — Archaeologists have uncovered several artifacts at the site of Harriet Tubman’s father’s home in Dorchester County, the Maryland Department of Transportation announced.
MDOT first located the site in 2021 using historic documents to guide their search. (MDOT)
For the past four years, a team of researchers has been documenting findings at the site where Ben Ross, Tubman’s father, once lived and where Tubman spent part of her teenage years. The site, located deep within the wetlands of Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, is not open to the public, but MDOT has launched a virtual museum to share the discoveries.
The site, located deep within the wetlands of Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, is not open to the public, but MDOT has launched a virtual museum to share the discoveries. (MDOT)
MDOT first located the site in 2021 using historic documents to guide their search. Archaeologists dug along a historic road in Blackwater before discovering an 1808 coin and ceramic shards, which led to further excavations. Since then, researchers have unearthed hundreds of artifacts, offering a deeper understanding of daily life in the early 19th century.
Archaeologists dug along a historic road in Blackwater before discovering an 1808 coin and ceramic shards, which led to further excavations. (MDOT)
Historians say Tubman worked alongside Ross as a teenager before escaping slavery in 1849. She later helped approximately 70 enslaved people reach freedom and also guided her parents north when her father was suspected of assisting the Underground Railroad, according to MDOT.