Photo: Harriet Tubman Home © Courtesy of Tour Cayuga
As New York prepares to commemorate 200 years since the legal abolition of slavery through Freedom 2027: New York State’s Abolition Bicentennial, Cayuga County offers a powerful setting for discovery and reflection. Here in the Finger Lakes, stories of freedom, equality, courage, and innovation are preserved where they unfolded. At the center is Auburn, affectionately known as “History’s Hometown” and chosen by Harriet Tubman as her hometown for more than half a century.
Harriet Tubman’s Auburn
Tubman settled in Auburn in 1859, establishing a home and community after years spent guiding freedom seekers on the Underground Railroad. At the Harriet Tubman Home, visitors can walk the property where her life in freedom took root and where her humanitarian work continued through care for family and others in need. Her vision ultimately led to the creation of the Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged, established to provide refuge and care for elderly African Americans.
Nearby, Harriet Tubman National Historical Park preserves another deeply personal part of her Auburn story. Thompson Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church was Tubman’s place of worship. She contributed to its construction, and her funeral was held there in 1913. Restored to its historic appearance and now open to the public, the church invites visitors to stand within a place deeply meaningful to Tubman.
A New Route Through the Story of Freedom
The new Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway extends her story across New York. Its newly designated first phase begins in Auburn and travels west to Niagara Falls, where many freedom seekers crossed into Canada. When the planned second phase is complete, the route will extend eastward from Auburn through Syracuse, Albany, and the Hudson Valley to New York City. With Tubman’s chosen hometown as the meeting point of its two phases, the completed Byway will connect a statewide corridor interpreting the stories of freedom seekers, abolitionists, and the communities that aided them.
Abolition, Equality, and Education
That broader history is visible throughout Cayuga County. Just up the road, the Seward House Museum preserves the home of William H. Seward, Lincoln’s Secretary of State, and his wife, Frances. Both opposed slavery, and their home was a part of the Underground Railroad. Their connection to Tubman was personal; Frances Seward sold Tubman the seven-acre farm where she would build her life in freedom. Filled with original family furnishings and collections, the Seward House is often described as the nation’s most complete historic home.
In the Sherwood Equal Rights Historic District, discover Emily Howland, a Quaker educator, abolitionist, philanthropist, and women’s rights advocate. During the Civil War, Howland taught freed people to read and write, equipping them with skills essential to greater independence and self-determination. She later established and supported schools for African Americans across the South. At the Howland Stone Store Museum and the family’s restored Opendore home, explore a legacy devoted to education, racial equality, and suffrage.
Innovation That Changed the Movies
Cayuga County’s national influence also reached into the modern age. At the Cayuga Museum of History & Art, step inside the original research laboratory of Theodore “Ted” Case, where experiments conducted in an Auburn backyard helped usher in the era of sound film. Case developed the first commercially successful sound-on-film system, transforming how audiences experienced motion pictures.
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Discover a Remarkable Chapter of the American Story
Few destinations bring so many nationally significant stories within such close reach. In Auburn and across Cayuga County, visitors can move from the home Harriet Tubman chose to places connected with abolition, equal rights, education, and groundbreaking innovation. With Freedom 2027 on the horizon and a new statewide Harriet Tubman Byway taking shape, there has rarely been a more meaningful time to discover why this corner of the Finger Lakes holds such an important place in the American story.
Plan your visit to Cayuga County and experience the places where stories of freedom, equality, and innovation continue to inspire generations today.
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