In the buildup to the Civil War, it was commonly thought that a slave's ticket across the Ohio River was a ticket to freedom. More runaway slaves escaped through Ohio than any other state through the Underground Railroad, and although Oxford was only a small community in the mid-19th century, the college town played a big role in American history.

At the time, Oxford was home to many known abolitionists and progressive thinkers, including Miami University's first president, Robert Hamilton Bishop and Ebenezer Lane, a Presbyterian minister who started the Lane Theological Seminary.

Route 177, which ran three miles east of Oxford, was a known Underground Railroad route, according to Janet Miller from the Smith History Library. Miller said Oxford's proximity to Cincinnati and famed local Railroad conductor Levi Coffin also provide good evidence Oxford played a role in the movement.

Although the history of Underground Railroad activity in Oxford is sparsely documented, since it was an illegal activity, old newspaper clips and oral history at the Smith Library of Regional History at Lane Public Library have pinpointed a few homes that were likely stops on the path to freedom, some of which are occupied by students today.

The Ebenezer Lane home which burned in 1925, located where Cook Place now stands, was once the Oxford Retreat for Mental and Nervous Diseases and alcoholic and narcotic addictions. Before emancipation, though, this home was also rumored by locals to house runaway slaves hidden in a cellar before moving them on to the next stop along the Railroad to the city of Morning Sun or Richmond, Ind., before eventually finding freedom, according to a 2007 story in The Oxford Press.

Dr. Hugh Gilchrist, a Scottish immigrant and member of the Presbyterian Church in Oxford, was also rumored to transport slaves at his home on 103 W. Walnut St., now the office space of various local businesses.

According to an article from the Sept. 27, 1979 edition of The Oxford Press, the house's future owner, Rev. David R. Moore, wrote about the house's role in the Railroad in 1922.

"A trap door opened by an iron ring in the floor and under the trap door was a stairway leading down to a secret cell in which runaway slaves were formerly confined when being carried through to Canada from the South by the Underground Railway," he wrote. "They were driven across country in wagons at night and hidden in these cells during the day."

Documented history shows other prominent houses in Oxford with mysterious tunnels and trap doors that lead homeowners to wonder what role their homes may have played in the Underground Railroad

According to documents obtained from the Smith History Library, former Miami President Philip Shriver said when Lewis Place was being remodeled in the 1960s, a part of the house was discovered that could have hidden runaway slaves. A tunnel underneath the fraternity house of Phi Gamma Delta has also raised historians' eyebrows.

On the corner of Main and Collins, "Landmark"-a house built more than 150 years ago-houses 14 women studying at Miami who believe their house was a station on the Underground Railroad.

"We're very proud to be a part of Oxford's historic community," said junior Jessica Nash, who now lives at Landmark.

In 1997, The Oxford Press reported that the former "House of Four Gables with Recessed Front Door," owned by Oxford's first banker Elias Kumler, had a secret passage that led to a hiding place under the porch for slaves. A Feb. 24, 2000 story in the now-defunct High Street Journal, a student publication, reported that while the home was undergoing plumbing repairs, a domed brick room was discovered, adding to the speculation surrounding the home.

Janet Miller, president of Oxford's chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), said Oxford has a rich history of Underground Railroad involvement.

"Oxford is a small place with a lot of history," she said. "Oxford was very active during the Underground Railroad."

Miller's husband is a descendant of the legendary Jones family in Butler County. John Jones, a black man, was described in his 1898 obituary in The Oxford News as "the head conductor of what was known as the under-ground railroad," and operated between Hamilton, West Elkton and Richmond, Ind. from his rural estate at 5643 Booth Road in Oxford.

His son, John S. Jones, assisted the effort and was the first black man to testify in the Butler County Court of Law in 1852. However, this confirmed local Underground Railroad station burned down in 1974.

Miller said that the Jones' had a hidden compartment in their wagon that would transport runaway slaves to nearby Fairhaven or Morning Sun on the path to freedom.

Although slavery was abolished centuries ago, Miller said it is necessary to remember this scar in America's history, and that these houses helped bring progress are an important example to follow as Miami witnesses its 200th birthday.

"There's always going to be someone who wants to continue old styles of segregation," she said. "It's going to be (students) that (are) changing that."