Kelsey's Landing

Kelsey's Landing
by Charlie


This sign is located in Maplewoood Park near the site of Kelsey's Landing.

Kelsey’s Landing was important to the Rochester abolitionist movement because there were Canadian boats that could be used to get freedom seekers to Canada where slaves were free. Canada was safer for freedom seekers because slavery was banned in Canada before slavery was banned in the United States. Kelsey’s Landing was located in today’s Maplewood Park along the Genesee River. Kelsey’s Landing was important to Rochester because it was a port where goods from Canada could be imported or exported. Trains ran Kelsey’s Landing out of business because trains were a faster and more comfortable mode of transportation. Kelsey’s Landing in now inaccessible because when Kelsey’s Landing went out of business no one cared for the path.

Little is known about freedom seekers who escaped from Kelsey’s Landing because almost nothing was written to insure the most security for escaped slaves. Frederick Douglass, William Parker, and freedom seekers would have been some of the people seen here, at night and at one time or another they were all fleeing to the safety of Canada. William Parker would have been here after the Christiana Riot when trying to escape the country because he defied the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. Frederick Douglass would have been here to keep lookout and later to flee the country after the John Brown Raid because government suspected Frederick’s connection with the planning of the John Brown Raid.

Kelsey’s Landing was used to fight oppression over African-American slaves and as a location for transportation to the final destination for many freedom seekers.

Related Links:
Frederick Douglass
John Brown

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