LEXINGTON, Ky. (FOX 56) — Leaders at the Historic Saint Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church in Lexington announced on Saturday that it had been verified as an Underground Railroad site, affirming a legacy more than 200 years in the making.
The National Park Service added Saint Paul AME, believed by many to be Lexington’s oldest church, to its Underground Railroad Network to Freedom for the refuge that escaped slaves had been able to find inside its walls while seeking their freedom. Officials said that among those was Lewis Garrard Clarke, whose life inspired the character George Harris in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”
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The church, built in 1826, is among the few sites in the Commonwealth that still stand from the era of the Underground Railroad. According to Kentucky Tourism, other preserved sites can be found at the Harriet Beecher Stowe Slavery to Freedom Museum, along with the National Underground Railroad Museum in Maysville, Camp Nelson in Nicholasville, and the Oldham County History Center.
Church leaders said that information about scheduling tours would be shared in 2026…