Plymouth and the Underground Railroad
Before Plymouth was Plymouth
In the late 17th century, Joshua Tarkington and Thomas Miller established a trading post on the banks of the Roanoke River. By 1738, this site was being referred to on maps as Brickhouse Plantation. By 1771, a shipyard had been established, and the settlement was known as Plymouth Landing. Among the goods being shipped from Plymouth Landing were turpentine and other naval stores. On January 1, 1790, a group of nine investors bought Plymouth Landing, and on August 4, 1790, the U.S. Congress designated Plymouth as a port of delivery.
Dug by enslaved laborers through 22 miles of swamp – opened in 1805, and Plymouth was incorporated two years later. The newly incorporated town benefited greatly from its location on the Roanoke River and its proximity to the Albemarle Sound and the canal. Plymouth’s proximity to the Dismal Swamp Canal also was significant. North Carolina’s rivers north of Cape Lookout do not flow directly into the Atlantic Ocean but instead empty into the shallow Albemarle and Pamlico sounds that are bordered on the east by the barrier islands known as the Outer Banks. The sounds are too shallow to allow ocean-going ships, which require deep-water harbors. Since lines of travel and communications followed the flow of rivers, North Carolina’s northeastern coast was isolated from the rest of the state. The region’s economic development was seriously hampered as a result.
The opening of the Dismal Swamp Canal gave northeastern North Carolina a link to commerce. In 1815, William J. Lewis and a small group of explorers sailed a small boat from the headwaters of the Roanoke in the mountains of Virginia down the river, across the Albemarle Sound, and through the canal to Norfolk. The daring journey was reported in Niles’ Weekly Register of July 18, 1816, and demonstrated that goods could be shipped from far upriver to Norfolk’s deep-water harbor. When steamboats appeared on the Roanoke around 1820, canal barges were loaded at Plymouth and towed down the Roanoke, across the Albemarle Sound and up the Pasquotank River past Elizabeth City to South Mill. From there they were moved through the Dismal Swamp Canal to Norfolk.The Plymouth waterfront became a lively place where freedom seekers surreptitiously mingled with steamboat passengers, enslaved stevedores, free and enslaved boatmen, and ships’ officers and crews “When runaways sought such help, they entered a maritime underworld,” Cecelski wrote in The North Carolina Historical Review article. “A steady traffic of slave boatmen converged in ports aboard river and sound boats laden with cotton bales, cypress shingles, and turpentine barrels. Awaiting fair winds or new cargo, black seamen crowded the wharf districts as well. They worked as stewards and cooks on most ships that sailed out of or visited North Carolina, held the most skilled crew stations on many ships, and constituted a majority of hands on at least a few vessels.”
Dug by enslaved laborers through 22 miles of swamp – opened in 1805, and Plymouth was incorporated two years later. The newly incorporated town benefited greatly from its location on the Roanoke River and its proximity to the Albemarle Sound and the canal. PlymoTurpentine Camps and Navel Stores
Other factors brought freedom seekers to the swamps and forests around Plymouth. In a 1996 article for The Journal of Southern History titled “Slavery, Work, and the Geography of the North Carolina Naval Stores Industry, 1835-1860,” author Robert B. Outland III noted that during most of the 18th century and into the 19th century the naval stores industry—which included turpentine production—was centered around the Albemarle Sound.
Cecelski also mentions naval stores production and the Underground Railroad. “Fugitive slaves traveling to ports often found work in the naval stores industry,” he wrote, adding that Black supervisors sometimes worked turpentine crews without white supervision. “That independence heightened their ability to hire or shelter fugitive slaves,” he wrote. Earl Ijames, a curator at the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh, says that freedom seekers in North Carolina often sought work at turpentine camps. The camps were in the wilderness and away from law enforcement and slave patrols that might arrest freedom seekers. Workers were hired on the spot, with no questions asked. They were paid in cash and could move on whenever they wanted. The presence of these turpentine camps enabled freedom seekers to earn quick cash to get them started on the next phase of their journeys, Ijames said.
The Network to Freedom application for the Washington Waterfront says that enslaved workers “worked as ship artisans, pilots, and sail makers, riggers, caulkers, and dock workers. They worked in the shipyards in the tidewater region of Virginia and the Carolinas, which was built upon the export of staple crops, which was carried by the waterways and human bondage.” The same kind of activity would have been taking place on the Plymouth waterfront, about 35 miles northeast of Washington.
The Civil War
The Plymouth Waterfront circa 1862, painted by Merrill G. Wheellock, an artist traveling with the Union Army ( From the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources used by permission of the North Carolina Museum of Art collection)
In its edition of August 27, 1851, the Plymouth Villager made a backhanded confirmation of the presence of abolitionists in Washington County, North Carolina. “A coat of tar and feathers is in waiting for the gentleman who will come about here and gainsay [deny] we are Abolitionists.” The remark was reprinted by the Republican and Patriot, a newspaper in Goldsboro, North Carolina.
Plymouth businesses and banks had developed strong commercial ties with northern cities, and ships from these northern ports regularly arrived at and departed Plymouth. So much maritime traffic came through Plymouth that a U.S. Customs House was built here in 1830, and in 1835 a lightship was anchored in the Albemarle Sound at the mouth of the Roanoke as a navigation aid.
Plymouth had developed diverse neighborhoods inhabited by whites, enslaved African Americans, and free people of color. There were many similarities between Halifax—which has been recognized as a Network to Freedom site—and Plymouth. Although Plymouth did not have as high a percentage of free Blacks as Halifax, Plymouth was well above the state average. The 1860 U.S. Census shows that about 20 percent of the residents of a Plymouth neighborhood overlooking the Roanoke River were free Blacks and free mixed race. As a whole, free people of color made up about 13 percent of the town’s population—a significantly higher percentage than North Carolina’s population of 3 percent.
In his book, War of Another Kind: A Southern Community in the Great Rebellion, author Wayne K. Durrill noted that there was strong Union sentiment in Plymouth and Washington County at the outbreak of the war. Many local businessmen did not want to sever the business and banking ties that Plymouth had formed with larger northern cities. Small farmers in Washington County who did not own slaves resented the dominance of local politics by a small number of wealthy, slave-owning planters. Many young African American men from Washington County joined the First North Carolina Colored Volunteers, later redesignated the 35th USCT.
The Fort Raleigh Network to Freedom application says, “The citizens of North Carolina were not strong supporters of slavery . . ..” The application also states: “In 1862, under the command of General Ambrose E. Burnside, Union forces took control of the Outer Banks with the battle of Roanoke Island and used the captured land to provide protection and freedom for escaped slaves. Word quickly spread throughout the South that if slaves could make their way to Roanoke Island, they would find a safe haven from their masters behind Union lines.” As noted earlier in this document, author Wayne K. Durrill said in War of Another Kind that freedom seekers poured into Plymouth when Union forces occupied the town shortly after the fall of Roanoke Island.
Plymouth was the center of the Underground Railroad in North Carolina
The presence of freedom seekers in Plymouth is documented by runaway postings published in newspapers soon after the Dismal Swamp Canal opened. “When runaways sought such help, they entered a maritime underworld,” Cecelski wrote in The North Carolina Historical Review article. “A steady traffic of slave boatmen converged in ports aboard river and sound boats laden with cotton bales, cypress shingles, and turpentine barrels. Awaiting fair winds or new cargo, black seamen crowded the wharf districts as well. They worked as stewards and cooks on most ships that sailed out of or visited North Carolina, held the most skilled crew stations on many ships, and constituted a majority of hands on at least a few vessels.” Cecelskis’s description depicts the docks on the Roanoke River in Plymouth before the Civil War.
Freedom Seekers
Rhoda In March 1808, a freedom seeker named Rhoda left her owner, William Pugh, in Bertie County (across the Roanoke River from Plymouth). In a notice posted in the Edenton Gazette of July 14, 1809, Pugh said Rhoda “has lately been in Plymouth, and passed there by the name of Rhoda Jones.”
Harry A young man named Harry, left his owner, John Taylor, in Martin County— which borders Washington County to the west—on September 2, 1808. In a notice published in the Edenton Gazette on November 11, 1808, Taylor said Harry had been “taken up” (the phrase used to describe the capture and jailing of a freedom seeker) near Plymouth and jailed but had escaped.
Polidore A freedom seeker named Polidore left his owner, Joshua Taylor in Hamilton. In a posting published in the Edenton Gazette of March 3, 1809, Taylor said Polidore probably would try to get to Plymouth or Edenton, where he would try to pass as a free man.
Quacko (John Brown) That same year, a freedom seeker known as Quacko left his owner, John Baker, in Brunswick County, North Carolina (about 180 miles southwest of Plymouth) on December 17, 1809. In a notice posted in the Edenton Gazette of December 29, 1809, Baker said Quacko might be headed for Washington County, where he Page 8 of 35 NPS Form 10-946 (Rev. 04/2020) National Park Service OMB Control No. 1024-0232 Expiration Date 04/30/2023 had once been owned by James Blount. Baker said that Quacko had passed for some time as a freeman and called himself John Brown.
Ester In 1810, a freedom seeker named Ester left her owner after being given permission to go to Plymouth. A notice was posted by John McGuire about her escape in the Edenton Gazette of December 3, 1811. McGuire said Ester “eloped” in Plymouth with a tobacconist named William Lowry. The couple went from Plymouth to Washington, and from there to Wilmington.
Isham On May 8, 1820, a freedom seeker known as Isham left his owner, a Mr. Alston in Wake County (about 120 miles west of Plymouth). In his post in the North Carolina Star of March 31, 1823, Alston notes that Isham had attempted an escape about seven years earlier. “I have reason to believe he is boating from Tarborough to Washington and Plymouth,” Alston said in his post.
Wake A freedom seeker named Wake left his owner in Wake County in March 1821. George Brasfield, administrator for the estate of Wake’s late owner, Mary Mitchell, said in a post in the Raleigh Minerva of March 3, 1821 that Wake was traveling with another man who’d recently served in the U.S. Army in Florida. Brasfield said Wake probably would be trying to escape to a free state by going to Plymouth and getting transportation to Baltimore.
Piety and Patsey Young The North Carolina Free Press of December 3, 1824 had two postings for freedom seekers thought to be in Plymouth or trying to get there. On August 8, 1824, an enslaved woman known as Piety and her four-year-old child left her owner, Nat Hunt. In his post in the North Carolina Free Press, Hunt said the woman was known as Patsey Young when she passed as free for about 16 years. During this time, she lived in Halifax and Plymouth. She had been captured in June 1824 but left again. The posting says that Piety married a free man of color named Achrael Johnson, who lived “in and about Plymouth, and followed boating on the Roanoke. I have but little doubt that Johnson has contrived to seduce or steal her and child out of my possession, and will attempt to get them out of the State and pass as free persons,” Hunt posted. This posting for Piety also was cited in Historic Halifax’s application to the Network to Freedom.
Abram That same edition of the North Carolina Free Press also published a posting by J. Bishop that an enslaved man named Abram had left on December 1. Bishop said Abram had “been out for several years and passed as a free man by the name of Reuben Wiggins.” “The said fellow may wish to get to Plymouth, and pass again as a free man,” Bishop wrote in his post.
John In 1827, an African American man known as John was jailed in Rockingham County, North Carolina, about 200 miles west of Plymouth on the North Carolina-Virginia border. Sheriff J.N. Odineal posted a notice in The Star of Raleigh on December 13, 1827 saying he “had no doubt that he is a slave.” Odineal said John was trying to get to Plymouth, where people knew that he was a free man.
Jack On February 14, 1838, a freedom seeker known as Jack left the plantation of Gabriel Purvis in Edgecombe County, North Carolina, about 50 miles west of Plymouth. In a notice posted in the Tarboro Press on February 17, 1838, Purvis said Jack may be “turning his course towards Plymouth, as he has heretofore been boating on the Roanoke.”
Hamlet On December 20, 1838, a freedom seeker known as Hamlet left his owner, Henry McKinne, in Wayne County, about 100 miles southwest of Plymouth. In his notice posted in the Newbern (sic) Spectator of December 28, 1838, McKinne says Hamlet may be trying to make his way to Plymouth, “where I understand he was raised, or has connexions (sic) in Washington County.”
Sam Johnston On July 31, 1841, a freedom seeker named Sam Johnston was jailed in Plymouth. He told Washington County Sheriff R.B. Davis that he was from Isle of Wight County, Virginia (southwest of Norfolk, about 80 miles north of Plymouth), and that he was free. But he was jailed as a runaway slave. Davis posted a runaway notice in the Raleigh Register of August 20, 1841 requesting that the owner come to Plymouth to “claim said Negro.” Page 9 of 35 NPS Form 10-946 (Rev. 04/2020) National Park Service OMB Control No. 1024-0232 Expiration Date 04/30/2023
Warren On June 18, 1847, a freedom seeker known as Warren was jailed in Plymouth. In a posting in The North Carolina Star on July 21, 1847, Washington County Sheriff Charles Latham said Warren had come to Plymouth from Richmond, Virginia.
Winney In June 1848, a young woman known as Winney left her owner, Godfrey Langley, in Pitt County— about 45 miles southwest of Plymouth—and was missing for three years when Langley posted a notice in the North State Whig of June 18, 1851. Langley said Winney had last been seen in “Jameston” in Martin County (Jamesville, about 10 miles up the Roanoke River from Plymouth, was sometimes referred to as Jameston) and in the past had worked for a Mr. Pettijohn of Plymouth.
Plymouth holds undground railroad ceremony
Plymouth, NC, recently held a dedication ceremony to honor its connection to the Underground Railroad. The event highlighted the town’s historical significance in helping enslaved individuals seek freedom, and the Roanoke River Lighthouse & Maritime Museum played a key role in the recognition. The site is now officially part of the National Park Service’s Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, acknowledging the area’s brave past and commitment to preserving African American heritage.
📺 Watch the full story here:
WITN: Plymouth holds Underground Railroad dedication (June 30, 2025)
Image Credits:
Dismal Swamp Canal Map Used by permission of The North Carolina Collection, Wilson Library, The University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill
Turpentine Camps Used by Permission U.S. Department of Agriculture
Freedom Seeker and Freedom Seekers and Union Soldier Used by permission Getty Images