Underground Railroad: Lick Creek

Lick Creek – Hoosier National Forest

The Underground Railroad consisted of a large secret network of travel routes and safe havens for freedom seekers escaping slavery. The Ohio River divided freedom and enslavement along several Border States, including Indiana.

Located 20 miles north of the Kentucky border, Lick Creek was a mixed community mostly of free African Americans and Quakers. Located in today’s Hoosier National Forest, it was an important component of the Underground Railroad. It was originally settled in 1811 by Jonathan Lindley, a white Quaker, and 11 other white and black families from North Carolina.

Settlers in the region brought with them an Upland South culture. The origins of this culture can be found mostly in western Virginia, North Carolina, and eastern Mississippi. Developed out of a mixture of European traditions, it mostly belonged to white middle class southerners.

By the 1860s, the population of African Americans in the area was over 1,000 and Lick Creek was often referred to as “Little Africa.” This influx of free African Americans and Quakers, and the influence of the African Methodist Episcopal Church point to involvement with the Underground Railroad.

The settlement continued to grow in the mid-nineteenth century. However, after the Civil War African Americans started to leave Lick Creek. Although their departure remains somewhat of a mystery, most probably headed north to industrial jobs. By 1911, there were no longer any African Americans residing in Lick Creek.

Sources:

Cheryl LaRoche, Free Black Communities and the Underground Railroad: the Geography of Resistance.

Lick Creek Trail: http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/hoosier/recreation/hiking/recarea/?recid=41572&actid=50

This information about the Underground Railroad is part of a geo-located multi-forest interpretive program. Please contact the U.S. Forest Service Washington Office Recreation, Heritage, and Volunteer Resources program leadership with any questions or to make changes. SGV – Recreation Data and Information Coordinator.