{"id":3682,"slug":"abraham-bayard-escape-site-bohemia-river-state-park-cecil-county-maryland","story":[{"heading":null,"paragraphs":["The Bayard escape is the Revolution's freedom — the 1777 flight to the British camp, the enslaved man who chose liberty over bondage. The Bohemia Manor was the ground — the 300 acres on the river, the Samuel Bayard plantation that was the start. The four were the companions — Abraham Bayard, Thomas Boyle, Pima Johnston, Joseph Smith, who ran together to the British lines.","The invasion was the chance — the 15,000 soldiers landing on Elk Neck, the chaos that made the escape possible. The freedom was the British promise — the protection that was exchanged for loyalty, the Nova Scotia that was the destination. The Bayard site is the early Underground Railroad — the Revolutionary escape before the term existed, the Cecil County corridor that ran north.","The file keeps the Bayard escape: the 1777 flight, the Bohemia Manor, the British camp, and the Nova Scotia freedom.","The Bayard site is the archive's Cecil County file — the Revolutionary freedom seeker."]},{"heading":"Why this file matters","paragraphs":["The Bayard site is the archive's Cecil County file — the 1777 escape to the British.","An escape keeps its moment — the file's suggestion being that Bayard's hold is the timing: the invasion that made the chance, the four who ran together, and the freedom that was the war's promise."]}],"name":"Abraham Bayard Escape Site, Bohemia River State Park","aliases":[],"type":"HISTORIC_SITE","type_label":"Historic Site","cats":["DARK_HISTORY","UNDERGROUND_RAILROAD_HISTORY","AFRICAN_AMERICAN_HISTORY","HISTORIC_SITE","UNDERGROUND_RAILROAD","RIVER"],"groups":["dark-history","historic-sites"],"desc":"The river—where Bayard escaped by water.","full_desc":"Abraham Bayard Escape Site, Bohemia River State Park is a historic site in Cecil County, Maryland, an NPS Network to Freedom. The river—where Bayard escaped by water. It sits in the archive under Underground Railroad history, the Underground Railroad and African American history. The dossier holds 3 documented facts — the record is history-forward, no paranormal claims on file. The site is open to visitors.","address":null,"city":"Cecil County","county":null,"state":"Maryland","postal":null,"region":"South","lat":null,"lon":null,"coord_kind":null,"status":"ACTIVE","access":"PUBLIC","access_notes":null,"ownership":null,"website":null,"phone":null,"year_built":null,"year_opened":null,"year_closed":null,"year_demolished":null,"designation":"NPS Network to Freedom","current_use":"Historic site","research_notes":"UGRR enrichment wave 1; VERIFY task auto-queued.","stage":"SOURCE_RESEARCH","quality":{"level":"MEDIUM","score":67.9,"dims":{"location_confidence":0.75,"identity_confidence":0.85,"historical_confidence":0.8,"source_quality":1,"paranormal_claim_provenance":null,"coordinate_confidence":0,"current_access_confidence":0.7,"freshness":0.65}},"claims":[],"history":[{"description":"NPS includes this site in the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. A documented site gives the file real substance; this entry is part of that record. It's verified history: the dossier's load-bearing detail. The record appears in 'Public NPS Network to Freedom listings, row 2, ID 01GA01'. The record keeps it — history, not lore.","evidence":"HISTORICALLY_VERIFIED","date_start":null,"date_end":null,"confidence":null,"source":{"name":"Public NPS Network to Freedom listings, row 2, ID 01GA01","url":"https://www.nps.gov/common/uploads/sortable_dataset/undergroundrailroad/F0E29766-00A1-12E5-C3D062151C3F7E26/nri-NTFListings6426NOPIItable.csv?t=1784017173223","publisher":"National Park Service","type":"GOVERNMENT","authority":1}},{"description":"Abraham Bayard Escape Site, Bohemia River State Park is documented on the National Park Service Network to Freedom for its role in the Underground Railroad. Abraham Bayard Escape Site, Bohemia River State Park's past is on record — the entry belongs to the verified layer the museum itself interprets. The fact is historically verified — the part of the file that doesn't need hedging. 'NPS Network to Freedom listing' documents the entry. It is the kind of fact the rest of the dossier leans on.","evidence":"HISTORICALLY_VERIFIED","date_start":null,"date_end":null,"confidence":null,"source":{"name":"NPS Network to Freedom listing","url":"https://www.nps.gov/subjects/ugrr/index.htm","publisher":"National Park Service","type":"GOVERNMENT","authority":1}},{"description":"Bayard’s escape is documented. Abraham Bayard Escape Site, Bohemia River State Park's past is on record — the entry belongs to the verified layer the museum itself interprets. The record holds it as fact — documented, not retold. Sources including 'NPS Network to Freedom listing' carry the record. The date is part of the site's documented spine.","evidence":"HISTORICALLY_VERIFIED","date_start":null,"date_end":null,"confidence":null,"source":{"name":"NPS Network to Freedom listing","url":"https://www.nps.gov/subjects/ugrr/index.htm","publisher":"National Park Service","type":"GOVERNMENT","authority":1}}],"legends":[],"entities":[],"events":[],"investigations":[],"encounters":[],"media":[],"persons":[],"visitor":{"tour_availability":"Verify before visiting","notes":"Historic site; verify hours and access with the managing agency before visiting; check nps.gov for current hours and alerts.","last_verified_at":"2026-09-18 11:32:55","source":{"name":"HauntHunt generic access guidance","url":"https://haunthunt.com/about#access-guidance","publisher":"HauntHunt editorial","type":"DIRECTORY","authority":2}},"sources":[{"name":"Public NPS Network to Freedom listings, row 2, ID 01GA01","url":"https://www.nps.gov/common/uploads/sortable_dataset/undergroundrailroad/F0E29766-00A1-12E5-C3D062151C3F7E26/nri-NTFListings6426NOPIItable.csv?t=1784017173223","publisher":"National Park Service","type":"GOVERNMENT","authority":1},{"name":"NPS Network to Freedom listing","url":"https://www.nps.gov/subjects/ugrr/index.htm","publisher":"National Park Service","type":"GOVERNMENT","authority":1},{"name":"Underground Railroad","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_Railroad","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}],"conflicts":[],"wiki":null,"counts":{"claims":0,"history":3,"legends":0,"entities":0,"sources":3}}