New Philadelphia

New Philadelphia NHS https://www.nps.gov/neph/index.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Philadelphia_National_Historic_Site The New Philadelphia National Historic Site is the original site of the now-vanished town of New Philadelphia, Illinois. It is located near the western Illinois city of Barry, in Pike County. Founded in 1836, New Philadelphia was the first town in the United States platted and registered by an African American before the American Civil War. The founder, Free Frank McWorter (1777–1854), was a former slave who was able to save money from work and his own business to purchase the freedom of his wife, then himself, and over time, 13 members of his family from Kentucky. Several of his freedom purchases were funded by the sale of New Philadelphia lots. The town was integrated and reached a population of about 160 near the close of the Civil War in 1865. To a casual observer, New Philadelphia looked like a typical Illinois pioneer town. But a closer look revealed a unique and racially diverse community. New Philadelphia was the first US town platted and registered by an African American. A formerly enslaved man, Free Frank McWorter, founded New Philadelphia in 1836 and purchased freedom for himself and 15 family members. New Philadelphia National Historic Site is in rural western Illinois between the Mississippi and Illinois rivers near Interstate 72. The site can be reached by turning onto 306th Lane from County Highway 2. An informational kiosk is immediately on the left after turning onto 306th Lane. The small city of Barry lies two miles west and has the nearest services. Hannibal, Missouri, is 27 miles west. Springfield, Illinois, is 76 miles east. St. Louis lies about 115 miles south. Perseverance and Freedom on the Illinois Frontier A grassy field surrounded by forest under a sunny sky with large white clouds. View of New Philadelphia National Historic Site on a sunny day. Kiosk Four interpretive panels mounted under a covered, open-sided kiosk overlooking a prairie landscape. A kiosk houses several informational panels at New Philadelphia National Historic Site. Walking Tour A mowed path through prairie. There are numbered signs along the trail. Visitors can take a self-guided ¼-mile-long walking tour of the site using an augmented virtual reality app managed by the New Philadelphia Association. The app is available to download for electronic handheld devices, cost-free, at the kiosk. Schoolchildren Twenty children of mixed ages and genders posing for the camera in front of a schoolhouse. Schoolchildren at the New Philadelphia School, October 1925. Lucy McWorter Historic black and white photo of an African American woman seated looking past the camera. Lucy McWorter, Free Frank McWorter’s wife, 1800s. Things to Do in Illinois Find things to do, trip ideas, and more in Illinois. A light orange two story home containing many windows with green shutters. Series: Things to Do in the Midwest There is something for everyone in the Midwest. See what makes the Great Plains great. Dip your toes in the continent's inland seas. Learn about Native American heritage and history. Paddle miles of scenic rivers and waterways. Explore the homes of former presidents. From the Civil War to Civil Rights, discover the stories that shape our journey as a nation. Steep bluff with pink sky above and yellow leaves below. Archeology of New Philadelphia Twenty-seven years before the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in 1863, the formerly enslaved pioneer “Free” Frank McWorter established the first town founded by an African American man in the United States. Major excavation of New Philadelphia began in 2002, and has allowed archeologists the unique opportunity of examining a site settled by free African Americans. Plat of New Philadelphia New Philadelphia: A Multiracial Town on the Illinois Frontier (Teaching with Historic Places) Learn about "Free Frank" McWorter and how archeology can help tell the story of the interracial town he founded in the years before the Civil War.

New Philadelphia National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior National Historic Site Illinois The Pursuit of Freedom on the Illinois Frontier NPS Above: View of New Philadelphia today. To a casual observer, New Philadelphia looked like a typical Illinois pioneer town. As travelers got closer, they would have found a small but bustling community where Black and White villagers lived and worked side by side. For formerly enslaved Free Frank McWorter, the town meant new beginnings and an opportunity to free family members. New Philadelphia, which he founded in 1836, is the first US town platted and registered by a Black American. Free Frank McWorter and the Rise and Decline of New Philadelphia New Philadelphia’s story began in 1777 South Carolina with Frank’s birth to Juda, an enslaved West African woman. Frank spent the first 42 years of his life in slavery and during that time moved to Kentucky. On the Kentucky frontier, Frank met his wife Lucy and they started a family. During the time he was not required to work directly for his enslaver, his time and skills were hired out to other pioneers. Frank also mined local caves for saltpetre, a component of gunpowder, vital for life on the frontier and in demand for the War of 1812. While Frank was known for his ingenuity and hard work, the opportunity to earn income was not an option for many enslaved people. After some time, Frank saved enough money to buy the freedom of then-pregnant Lucy. This ensured that the child she was carrying and subsequent children would be born free. Two years later, in 1819, he purchased his own freedom. In 1830, Free Frank, Free Lucy, and their free children moved to Illinois, where he had purchased land between the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers. The family carved a homestead and farm out of the Illinois frontier. COURTESY OF PAMELA AND SHEENA FRANKLIN COURTESY OF CHRIS FENNELL, PROFESSOR OF ANTHROPOLOGY AND LAW, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS In 1835, Free Frank paid $100 for an eighty-acre parcel of land just south of the family farm. He laid out the town he called Philadelphia (later known as New Free Lucy McWorter, Free Frank McWorter’s wife, 1800s. Excerpt of an April 1998 aerial photograph from the U.S. Geological Survey shows lots and the landscape on which New Philadelphia was located. Philadelphia) on 42 acres of that land. He subdivided the property into 144 lots and sold them to Black and White settlers. There were no reports of racial violence in the town. Free Frank continued to save the funds he earned from farming and the sale of New Philadelphia lots to buy the freedom of more family members. In total, Free Frank freed himself and fifteen of his relatives at a combined cost of $14,000 (equivalent to about $500,000 today). After his death in 1854, Free Frank’s sons continued this effort. Town descendants and neighboring communities did not forget New Philadelphia. Historical documents, oral histories, archeological research, organizations, and individuals have kept the town’s story alive. The New Philadelphia Association, a local non-profit organization, has managed the site since the late 1990s. New Philadelphia has been the subject of a collaborative archeological project sponsored by the National Science Foundation Research Experience for The community’s population peaked in 1865 and then began declining. New developing communities nearby and a bypassing railroad were likely contributors to the decline. Only one family remained in the 1950s. New Philadelphia disappeared as plows turned the soil and buried material remains left behind. Undergraduates program from 2004-2011. The program was conducted by the universities of Maryland, Illinois, North Carolina, and the Illinois State Museum. More than 150,000 historic artifacts were unearthed by archeologists. This research has added to our understanding of integrated towns in the late 1800s. New Philadelphia became a unit of the National Park System in December 2022. The National Park Service is working to establish a presence at the site. COURTESY OF PAUL A. SHACKEL, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND Keeping New Philadelphia’s Story Alive Free Frank’s commitment to the freeing of enslaved people did not stop with his own family. As a free, racially diverse community and only 20 miles from Missouri, a slave state, New Philadelphia became a stop on the Underground Railroad. The McWorter family sheltered and escorted freedom seekers. Excavation of an early twentieth-century foundation at New Philadelphia. Visiting New Philadelphia New Philadelphia National Historic Site is open to the public. The site is located three miles east of Barry, Illinois, and can be reached by turning onto 306th lane from County Highway 2. An informational kiosk is immediately on the left after turning. The site is currently maintained by the New Philadelphia Association. The Association manages the informational kiosk and an augmented reality self-guided walking tour. The app

New Philadelphia National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior National Historic Site Illinois On the Route to Freedom: The Underground Railroad and New Philadelphia LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Above: Illustration of freedom seekers in the 1872 publication The Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad refers to the efforts of enslaved Black Americans (freedom seekers) to gain their freedom by escaping slavery. Wherever slavery existed, there were efforts to escape. The laws of the time said that freedom seekers were “fugitives” who could be captured and sent back into slavery. Most freedom seekers began and completed their journeys without aid; however, assistance efforts grew over the course of the 1800s. Free Frank McWorter broke the bonds of slavery by purchasing freedom for himself and 15 family members, all through his own initiative and enterprises. In 1836, Free Frank made history as the first Black American in our nation to plat and record a town, New Philadelphia. New Philadelphia and area residents actively participated in the Underground Railroad by sheltering, concealing, and sometimes accompanying freedom seekers north to Canada. Once a bustling town on the Illinois frontier, today New Philadelphia is an archeological site and now a unit of the National Park System. On a South Carolina plantation in 1777, Frank, as he was known in his youth, was born into bondage to his enslaved mother Juda. It is likely that George McWhorter, their enslaver, was Frank’s father. Frank grew up working his enslaver’s land in South Carolina. When McWhorter expanded his land holdings in Kentucky and Tennessee, Frank managed the Kentucky property. In 1799, Frank married Lucy, a woman enslaved on a nearby plantation. Frank and Lucy became parents to four surviving children while in bondage. George McWhorter hired out Frank’s time, allowing him to keep a portion of the earnings. Frank also earned money mining caves for saltpetre, a component of gun powder. This was a key commodity on the frontier and in the War of 1812. By 1817, Frank saved enough money to purchase Lucy’s freedom, ensuring that the child she was carrying and subsequent children would be born free. In 1819, Frank purchased his own freedom and acquired land in Pike County, Illinois. He was known as Free Frank after his release from slavery. A devoted family man, he traded his lucrative saltpetre operation to enable his son, Frank, Jr., who had fled to Canada, to return to Kentucky and remain free. Free Frank and Free Lucy left with their free-born children and Frank, Jr. to the free state of Illinois in 1830. In 1836, Free Frank founded a town he called Philadelphia, later known as COURTESY OF PAMELA AND SHEENA FRANKLIN Built on a Foundation of Self Determination, the Pursuit of Freedom, Opportunity, and Love for Family Free Lucy McWorter, Free Frank McWorter’s wife, 1800s. The North Star Leads Through Illinois New Philadelphia, and sold lots to Black and White pioneers. In 1837, the state legislature approved Free Frank’s petition to assume a last name, McWorter, for legal standing. With money earned from lot sales, the McWorters returned to Kentucky, again risking capture by slave patrols, to free children still enslaved. Before his death in 1854, in addition to himself, Free Frank had purchased the freedom of nine family members and made provisions in his will to free six more family members from bondage at a cost more than of $14,000, equivalent to more than $500,000 today. New Philadelphia was on a route followed by many freedom seekers fleeing enslavement north through Illinois. The community was 13 miles northeast of the Mississippi River, which separated Illinois from the slave state of Missouri. The town’s rural and remote landscape was like other communities in Illinois that were stops on the Underground Railroad. New Philadelphia became a racially diverse community working in concert to help freedom seekers evade capture and achieve freedom. “There seems to be reason to believe that the fugitives are enticed to flee here. They came as far as Barry, as though they were among friends. There they were set upon and returned.” NPS Oral histories and historical records by residents support New Philadelphia’s participation in the Underground Railroad. Clarissa Shipman, who lived on a farm near New Philadelphia, wrote to her family in New England that freedom seekers were captured in Barry, only three miles away. Shipman believed that the freedom seekers wanted to come to the New Philadelphia area, writing, Other oral histories also support the community’s participation in helping freedom seekers. Descendant Ruby Duke remembered stories passed down by her grandmother. Her grandmother told of freedom seekers who worked in her grandparents’ garden and their efforts to thwart bounty hunters. Familiar with the route north and escape routes from the south, the McWorters helped and sometimes accompanied freedom seekers. Ellen McWort