Source: Jennifer Aldridge / iONEDigital
FOUNTAIN CITY — Back in the day, Fountain City, formerly known as Newport, served as a center point for freedom seekers escaping slavery.
In Fountain City, Levi and Catharine Coffin opened their door to more than 1,000 of them.
Soon enough, their home became known as the “Grand Central Station of the Underground Railroad.” Now, if Levi and Catharine Coffin’s house could talk, it would share countless stories from all eight rooms, about helping more than one-thousand people escape slavery.
With his tours, Aaron Martin takes you back in time, to 1839.
“So, on a day like this, we do not have a whole ton of light,” Martin said.
He gives tours of this historic site as the program developer.
To Martin, preserving and sharing the Coffin House History is vital to learning Black history.
“It is almost completely original,” Martin said. “All of the floors, all of the windows, all of the woodwork. A lot of this is brand new to most people.”
Not many people know about the story of these Hoosiers, who risked their lives to house, clothe and feed the freedom seekers.
As much as the Coffin’s risked, the freedom seekers risked more.
“We need to talk about it, it’s an important part of our history,” Martin said. “You can take the lessons from the freedom seekers and know how the start of this country has affected them down to this day.”
Their stories are devastating, but there is success. Every person who passed through the Coffin House eventually found freedom.
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