Baltimore County church fights to preserve history as Underground Railroad safehouse stop
BALTIMORE Co. — Sitting on the corner of Rolling and Dogwood roads in Windsor Mill is a little building called Emmarts United Methodist Church.
WJZ first brought you the story on Saturday as the church and the Baltimore County community kicked off Black History Month by hosting a commemorative walk at the church. It was their "tribute to the past."
Close to 200 leaders and community members walked down Dogwood and Rolling Roads to the church. They walked to honor and recognize a place where enslaved people found refuge on their journey to freedom.
Look at the artifacts
On an ordinary Sunday, you'll hear Pastor Isaiah Redd Sr. preaching to his small congregation. The church's members discovered it was a safehouse stop on the Underground Railroad after finding artifacts inside the church.
WJZ was invited inside the church ahead of the commemorative walk for an exclusive look at some of the historical artifacts and documents church members found.
"I want them to feel the history of this church, why people came to this church to be set free from enslavement," said Redd, Emmarts United Methodist Church pastor.
Emmarts was a part of a network of homes, churches, and other safe havens in Baltimore enslaved people navigated on their journey North.
History of the church
Founded in the late 1800s, Emmarts holds a part of the mystery as to how hundreds of slaves found their way to freedom.
Several local histories tell of a local cooper, Nicolas Smith, Gerard Emmarts' brother-in-law and a member of the Emmarts building committee in 1855, who hid runaway slaves in barrels and carried them to safety across the Pennsylvania line.
Christine Hughes' family has been a part of the church for decades. She is one of a few members of this church working to preserve its past and its future.
"There was a case in the basement that had a lot of history, and then there was a large crate that had additional history, a lot of the history that we found and organized it," said Hughes.
Old building records show before the church was rebuilt in the early 1900s, there was a balcony or gallery where slaves sat to worship but also hid those who were seeking freedom.
"They removed the gallery and started a Sunday school. But the gallery is where they held the Negro slaves that were running away," Hughes said.
From here, runaway slaves were rolled from one safe house to the next in barrels by underground railroad conductors like Smith and members of the Emmarts family.
"36-gallon and 52-gallon hog head barrels and that became the means of moving runaway slaves — persons seeking freedom— back and forth, up and down the road that we sit on now, Rolling Road," said Linda Dorsey-Walker, a Baltimore County native and historian.
Their journey would take them to places down the road like Emmart Pierpont Safe House and others around Baltimore County.
"Approximately 50 of them were all around the county, but the vast majority were on the western side of the county," said Dorsey-Walker.
Keeping Emmarts' history preserved
Organizers explained to WJZ that telling people about the church is part of a bigger effort to preserve and save Emmarts history and the stories of the enslaved people it helped.
The congregation held Saturday's commemorative walk and created a permanent display so the community can come inside, experience their story and learn why this is something they want to protect.
"I want them to understand the sacrifices that were made for people you know where you are now," said Bella Owens, one of the organizers of the Emmarts United Methodist Church Commemorative Walk.
"We want to make sure that this building is still standing for those even when I'm gone as pastor," said Redd. "We need the people of this community to embrace us as a historic element of the culture of this community."
"The church has a history that talks about unwavering faith, and I think that's really important," Hughes said.