Underground Railroad extended well into Michigan

Michigan was near the end of the line for the Underground Railroad, a network of safe places organized that helped people who were fleeing enslavement in the 1800s. Michigan has 34 documented sites that served as “depots or stations” along the railroad. 

The Michigan History Center, a unit of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, reported: “There are endless accounts about this secret network that aided thousands of people on their journey to freedom. ‘Conductors’ hid freedom seekers in their homes and barns during the day. At night, freedom seekers would go to a depot in the next town.” 

“For many, Detroit was the last stop for freedom seekers before making their way to a new life in Canada,” according to the history center spokesperson.

 

Some of the earliest freedom seekers may have been hidden in the New Holland Inn, located in Oakland County, Mich., near the community of South Lyon, about midway between Lansing and Detroit. The Oakland County Historic Commission is on a mission to find out for sure. 

The New Holland Inn opened in 1831 as a stagecoach stop for weary travelers six years before Michigan became a state (in 1837).

 

The founder of the tavern was Russell Alvord of Rochester, N.Y., who attained a 40-acre land grant from President Andrew Jackson to establish an inn along an important trail in the Northwest Territory. (Jackson, the seventh U.S. president, served from 1829-1837). 

Alvord designed and laid out the village of New Hudson. He and his wife, Eleanor Freeman Alvord, had five children. The Alvords were known to be sympathetic toward the abolitionists, and it’s entirely likely that the family participated in the Underground Railroad. 

The New Hudson Inn is solidly built out of 18” sewn timbers and hardwood held together with wooden pegs. “This rudimentary but functional frontier building” contains a hidden indoor staircase leading to an upper level of the old inn.

 

The inn’s webmaster wrote: “Above the main room of the tavern is a secret room that possibly hid runaway slaves on the Underground Railroad. As escaped slaves would come through quickly and quietly, an occasional item would get left behind in the upper room hideaway.” 

Artifacts and items of clothing are on display for tavern patrons to view. 

Tracy Ann Ritter, the self-appointed historian on staff at the New Hudson Inn, shared an experience from a visiting psyche. “She told us not to close off the stairway opening or to remove the old bathtub up there. To do so would bring economic ruin to the business.” 

The owners aren’t going to change a thing, Ritter said. “We are all looking forward to the tavern’s 200-year birthday in 2031.” 

The county historic commission is also pursuing a roadside historic marker for the New Hudson Inn. 

Today, the bar and grill is famous as “Michigan’s oldest continuously operating tavern.” The New Hudson Inn is widely acclaimed for “serving the best hamburgers in the state, a spectacular array of half-pounders.”

 

The best parking spots outside are reserved for motorcycles. Come for breakfast on Saturday and Sunday and enjoy freshly baked doughnuts “on the house.” 

The place has loads of loyal fans, like Dave H. of West Bloomfield Township, Mich., who wrote: “I love the Huddy! It’s a gem for food and drinks. It looks like a biker bar, but don’t be afraid to go in and grab a seat. They offer a lot of great events, entertainment, and it’s a lively scene. Food is great; burgers are huge, and you get a pretty good value for what you pay.”