Dossier 0771Historic SiteMedium 62

Pettengill House

Cambridge, Illinois201 SW Jefferson St1 min readFile amended October 2, 2026Directions

A historic site in Cambridge, Illinois, a National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom listing, Pettengill House is filed here for what the record attaches to it. NPS-listed historic site associated with the Underground Railroad. The archive files it under dark history, Underground Railroad history and the Underground Railroad. The dossier holds 3 documented facts — a documented spine with no haunting reports attached. The site is open to visitors.

Archive note: 3 conflicting records

Status

Operating

Access

Open to public

Designation

National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom listing

Coordinates

41.292, -90.191 · Approximate (city centroid)

County

Peoria

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

Signal: cold trace

Is Pettengill House haunted?

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

Dark History Historic Sites

The record — long form

Pettengill is the cellar — the 'eyewitness' that's the saw runaways through windows, the 'Liberty and Jefferson' that's the Civic Center now. The 'skiff' is the crossing — the 'slave hunters overtook' that's the swamp thicket, the 'one reached' that's the boat made it. The 'Lucy and Moses' is the pair — the 'Female Anti-Slavery' that's the she founded, the 'conductor' that's the he rowed.

The 'Democratic town' is the turned — the 'Southern-sympathizing' that's the converted Peoria, the 'unpopular' that's the dangerous stance. The 'torn down' is the gone — the '1910' that's the Jefferson Hotel, the 'Civic Center' that's the site today. Pettengill is the marked — the '2005 Network' that's the site listed, the 'sculpture' that's the Preston Jackson commemorates.

The file keeps Pettengill: the cellar windows, the skiff that saved one, the converted town, and the Civic Center site.

Pettengill House is the archive's Illinois file — the abolitionists' cellar.

Why this file matters

The Pettengill House site is the archive's Illinois file — the station under a civic center.

A site keeps its witness — the file's suggestion being that Pettengill's hold is the seen: the 'cellar windows' that's the runaways spotted, the 'one reached the boat' that's the partial rescue, and the 'torn down but listed' that's the memory's monument.

Two accounts on file

Short Description

On file

NPS-listed historic site associated with the Underground Railroad.

Also reported

The Pettengill house—the family’s station.

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 10IL02, source row 215. 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 3; 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. A documented site gives the file real substance; this entry is part of that record. The fact is historically verified — the part of the file that doesn't need hedging. 'Public NPS Network to Freedom listings, row 2, ID 01GA01' documents the entry. The detail belongs to the verified spine of the entry.
Verified historyNational Park Service
Pettengill House 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. The fact is historically verified — the part of the file that doesn't need hedging. 'NPS Network to Freedom listing' documents the entry. The detail belongs to the verified spine of the entry.
Verified historyNational Park Service
The house’s UGRR role is documented. Pettengill House'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's the sort of fact that gives the haunting reports their context.
Verified historyNational Park Service