Governor Kathy Hochul recently signed legislation officially designating Phase 1 of the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway as a New York State Scenic Byway.
This legislation recognizes the 173-mile heritage corridor connecting Auburn to Niagara Falls across eight counties and more than 22 heritage sites, including the 1816 Farmington Quaker Meetinghouse Museum.
The byway honors Harriet Tubman — who made her home in Auburn for 54 years (and where she’s buried), after escaping slavery and leading more than 70 Freedom Seekers to liberty — and the broader Underground Railroad network that ran through New York state.
“The 1816 Farmington Quaker Meetinghouse Museum is delighted to learn that Governor Hochul has signed into law the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Corridor,” said Judith Wellman, executive director of the 1816 Farmington Quaker Meetinghouse Museum. “This will mean so much to the Museum, a national site of conscience and center for equal rights.”
Wellman added, “In this Meetinghouse, visitors will hear the stories of Frederick Douglass, William Wells Brown, the Edmondson sisters, and many other freedom seekers who lived or spoke in Farmington and the Greater Rochester-Finger Lakes area.”
The corridor is expected to have a major cultural and economic impact on the region, and the 1816 Meetinghouse museum is currently undergoing renovations and will have state-of-the-art exhibits to serve as a community gathering place and a magnet for local people, students, and heritage tourists from all over the country.
“Our region was home to many people who became national leaders for equal rights. The stories of freedom seekers who settled here continue to inspire us all. We want to share these stories with the world,” said Wellman.
Phase 1 covers approximately one-third of the planned route. Phase 2 – which is proposed for the 2027 legislative session — will extend the byway from Auburn east through 14 additional counties to Manhattan and the New Jersey border, creating a contiguous 550-mile border-to-border corridor.
The long-term plan connects the New York Byway into a continuous multi-state route from Dorchester County, Maryland — Harriet Tubman’s birthplace — to St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, where Tubman guided Freedom Seekers to safety.
For more information, visit https://farmingtonmeetinghouse.org/ or tubmanbywayny.org or email info@farmingtonmeetinghouse.org.
