Actual Hiding Place on the Underground Railroad

Mr. Goodridge created a secret hiding place under his kitchen floor for freedom seekers, which can still be seen today. This space was hand-dug, and it wasn't found until a new homeowner started renovations in the 1890s. While we don’t know how many freedom seekers Goodridge helped since records weren't kept due to the illegality of assisting fugitives, researchers believe Goodridge assisted two very noteworthy men: William Parker and Osborne Perry Anderson. Parker, an ex-slave who participated in the Christiana Resistance, regularly used Goodridge’s railroad cars to help fugitives escape. Goodridge is believed to have helped at least three people escape from the Christiana Riots in September 1851. Anderson, the sole survivor of John Brown’s Harper's Ferry raid in Virginia in 1859, was hidden on the third floor of Centre Hall before being smuggled to Philadelphia on a Goodridge railcar. A close friend to Frederick Douglas, Goodridge is associated with other leading abolitionists and businessmen of the time.