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Dossier 0965Historic SiteMedium 62

Dugan's Wharf Site: Tillly's Escape

Church Hill, MarylandNational Aquarium, Pier 41 min readFile amended Directions

A historic site in Church Hill, Maryland, a National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom listing, Dugan's Wharf Site: Tillly's Escape is filed here for what the record attaches to it. NPS-listed historic site associated with the Underground Railroad. HauntHunt files it with dark history, Underground Railroad history and the Underground Railroad. The dossier holds 2 documented facts — a documented spine with no haunting reports attached. The site is open to visitors.

Archive note: 3 conflicting records
Status
Operating
Designation
National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom listing
Coordinates
39.145, -75.981 · Approximate (city centroid)

NPS public listing access field: Yes. This is a listing snapshot; current arrangements still require confirmation.

Is Dugan's Wharf Site: Tillly's Escape haunted?

No claims are filed here — the record keeps this place for its documented history, not for a haunting on file.

The record — long form

Dugan's Wharf is the boarded — the 'steamboat Kent' that's the '56 departure, the 'Tubman and Tilly' that's the pair aboard. The 'sailed south' is the trick — the 'nobody suspects' that's the direction's disguise, the 'captain's papers' that's the freedom forged. The 'fiancé's plea' is the start — the 'Canada reached' that's the man's escape, the 'Tilly stuck' that's the seven years left.

The 'Seaford night' is the risked — the 'hotel's landlord' that's the trader's block, the 'near arrested' that's the morning's close. The 'Garrett's letter' is the record — the 'remarkable trip' that's the shrewdness praised, the 'only documented' that's the Nanticoke's one. Dugan's is the cleverest — the 'south to go north' that's the logic reversed, the 'two women' that's the disguise complete.

The file keeps the wharf: the Kent's boarding, the southward ruse, the hotel's near-miss, and Garrett's account.

Dugan's Wharf is the archive's Maryland file — where Tubman sailed south to reach freedom.

Why this file matters

Dugan's Wharf is the archive's Maryland file — Tubman's most clever rescue.

A pier keeps its boarding — the file's suggestion being that Dugan's hold is the reversed: the 'south' that's the escape's direction, the 'papers' that's the captain fooled, and the 'Tilly' that's the name nearly lost.

Two accounts on file

Short Description
On file

NPS-listed historic site associated with the Underground Railroad.

Also reported

The wharf—where Tilly escaped by water.

Preserve both source-backed variants; no automatic overwrite.

Historic Designation
On file

National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom listing

Also reported

NPS Network to Freedom

Preserve both source-backed variants; no automatic overwrite.

Research Notes
On file

Government-registry discovery record, unique ID 28MD03, source row 503. Inclusion concerns slavery, freedom-seeking and resistance history; no haunting is inferred. City, coordinates and detailed history are not inferred from the name. The source Year Established field is not treated as year built/opened.

Also reported

UGRR enrichment wave 4; VERIFY task auto-queued.

Preserve both source-backed variants; no automatic overwrite.

Documented history

  • NPS includes this site in the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. Dugan's Wharf Site: Tillly's Escape's past is on record — the entry belongs to the verified layer the museum itself interprets. This belongs to the verified spine of the entry, the layer everything else is measured against. 'Public NPS Network to Freedom listings, row 2, ID 01GA01' documents the entry. It's the sort of fact that gives the haunting reports their context.

    Verified historyNational Park Service
  • Dugan's Wharf Site: Tillly's Escape is documented on the National Park Service Network to Freedom for its role in the Underground Railroad. 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. Sources including 'NPS Network to Freedom listing' carry the record. The entry's timeline holds it; the lore holds the rest.

    Verified historyNational Park Service

Sources on file

Field notes & open questions

Government-registry discovery record, unique ID 28MD03, source row 503. Inclusion concerns slavery, freedom-seeking and resistance history; no haunting is inferred. City, coordinates and detailed history are not inferred from the name. The source Year Established field is not treated as year built/opened.

"Dugan's Wharf Site: Tillly's Escape." HauntHunt dossier 0965, https://haunthunt.com/place/dugan-s-wharf-site-tillly-s-escape-maryland/ (file amended October 2, 2026).

Within ~50 miles

End of file · continue the hunt
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