39. Old State House

Taking Risks for Freedom

Start your visit at the First State Heritage Park Welcome Center (Delaware Public Archives) where you will find parking, amenities, and information on Park programming. The Center includes exhibits on Delaware history and founding documents. From there, it is a short walk to the Green, the Old State House and the John Bell House.

In 1847, Samuel D. Burris, a free black Underground Railroad conductor, was arrested, tried, and convicted in the courtroom of the Old State House for aiding the escape of slaves. In addition to large fines and jail time, a free African American convicted of such a crime risked sale into slavery. Spared that fate, Burris moved his family to California in the 1850s, where he continued to support the fight for African-American freedom. On November 2, 2015, Delaware Governor Jack Markell pardoned Burris in the same court room where he was convicted 168 years earlier. Tours and programs at The Old State House explore Delaware’s legislative debates on slavery and freedom.

The park also highlights the dramatic escape story of the “Dover Eight,” a group of freedom seekers and friends of Harriet Tubman, who fled from Maryland in 1857. They were betrayed by a black Underground Railroad agent, Thomas Otwell, who lured them into the Dover jail for a $3,000 cash reward. The group broke out of the jail in a dramatic altercation with the sheriff.