{"id":3645,"slug":"rankin-mcnishe-house-ripley-ohio","story":[{"heading":null,"paragraphs":["Rankin-McNish is the first house — the '1822' that's the riverside built, the 'three apartments' that's the Rankin rented out. The 'McNish' is the in-law — the 'William carpenter' that's the married Lucinda Lowry, the 'Jean's sister' that's the family kept it. The 'second station' is the pair — the 'two houses' that's the both working, the 'hill and river' that's the route's ends.","The 'Eliza' is the passed through — the 'Christmas week' that's the icy crossing, the 'left her husband' that's the went back for her child. The 'beacon' is the signal — the 'lantern on pole' that's the 30 feet visible, the 'safe to cross' that's the Kentucky saw it. Rankin-McNish is the duplex — the 'landlord abolitionist' that's the rented and rescued, the 'family business' that's the sisters' houses.","The file keeps Rankin-McNish: the riverside house, the McNish kinship, Eliza's crossing, and the lantern's signal.","Rankin-McNish is the archive's Ohio file — the second station in one family."]},{"heading":"Why this file matters","paragraphs":["The Rankin-McNish house is the archive's Ohio file — the Underground Railroad ran through both Rankin homes.","A house keeps its kin — the file's suggestion being that Rankin-McNish's hold is the familial: the 'sister's husband' that's the second station kept, the 'lantern visible' that's the river-wide signal, and the 'Eliza passed' that's the legend's threshold."]}],"name":"Rankin-McNishe House","aliases":[],"type":"HISTORIC_SITE","type_label":"Historic Site","cats":["DARK_HISTORY","UNDERGROUND_RAILROAD_HISTORY","AFRICAN_AMERICAN_HISTORY","HISTORIC_SITE","UNDERGROUND_RAILROAD"],"groups":["dark-history","historic-sites"],"desc":"The McNishe house—the Rankin in-laws’ station.","full_desc":"A historic site in Ripley, Ohio, an NPS Network to Freedom, Rankin-McNishe House is filed here for what the record attaches to it. The McNishe house—the Rankin in-laws’ station. The archive files it under Underground Railroad history, the Underground Railroad and African American history. The dossier holds 2 documented facts — a documented spine with no haunting reports attached. The site is open to visitors.","address":null,"city":"Ripley","county":null,"state":"Ohio","postal":null,"region":"Midwest","lat":38.730797,"lon":-83.832852,"coord_kind":"CITY","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. '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.","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":"Rankin-McNishe 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.","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":2,"legends":0,"entities":0,"sources":3}}