Ashtabula: Covered Bridges and the Underground Railroad

The name Ashtabula comes from an Iroquois word meaning river of many fish, and the river made this Lake Erie port one of the busiest harbors in Ohio through the nineteenth century. The harbor also had a secret role: it was a major terminus of the Underground Railroad. Fugitive enslaved people who made it to the lake could board ships here and cross to Canada and freedom.

The Hubbard family's lakeside house sheltered hundreds of freedom-seekers, and ships' captains asked few questions. Ashtabula County preserved another piece of that era in its landscape. With nearly twenty covered bridges still standing, it has more historic covered bridges than any county in Ohio, a distinction locals celebrate with an annual covered-bridge festival every October.