Jersey City played a critical role in the Underground Railroad, serving as a strategic passage point for freedom seekers traveling north in the 19th century. Its location along the Hudson River, proximity to New York City, and network of churches and private homes made it a vital link in one of the most significant resistance movements in American history. Though much of this activity was intentionally hidden—and therefore poorly documented—the physical landscape of Jersey City still holds traces of this history today.

Why Jersey City Was Strategically Important

Geography made Jersey City essential to the Underground Railroad. Located directly across the Hudson River from Manhattan, Jersey City functioned as a transitional zone where freedom seekers could move discreetly between major urban centers and onward routes into New England or upstate New York. The city’s waterfront, ferry routes, and rail connections enabled movement while also offering cover within busy industrial areas.

For enslaved people fleeing bondage, Jersey City represented both danger and possibility—capture was always a risk, but so was progress toward freedom.

Community Networks and Safe Passage

The Underground Railroad was not a single route or organization. It was a decentralized network of individuals—Black and white—who provided shelter, transportation, and guidance.

In Jersey City, this network included:

Black churches that offered sanctuary and coordination
Private homes used as temporary safe houses
Abolitionist families and clergy willing to risk arrest and violence

Much of this activity went unrecorded by design. Written documentation could endanger both freedom seekers and those assisting them. As a result, oral histories, church records, and architectural evidence provide many of the clues historians rely on today.

It was the “stations” or safe houses scattered throughout Jersey City that helped usher former slaves to safety by way of the Hudson River. They traveled by foot and by covered wagon, moving under the cover of night. They sought refuge in cellars, and they relied on strangers for support.

For fear of arrest, safe houses were kept completely secret and prevented many from coming forward. While we’ll never know how many safe houses there actually were throughout Jersey City, we’re honoring the ones we know-

Dr. Henry D. Holt, a physician, former clerk of the Common Council of Jersey City, and an Editor of the Jersey City Advertiser and Bergen Republican who's home at 134 Washington St. on the Morris Canal Basin was a depot on the Underground Railroad. Holt wrote articles decrying the inhumanity of slavery.

Thomas Vreeland Jackson and John Vreeland Jackson were slaves on the estate of the Vreeland family in Greenville. They were freed between 1828 and 1830 and became oystermen on the Hudson River. In 1831, they bought land in the Greenville area on Newark Bay, the same year the Morris Canal Company purchased a portion of their land to construct the canal. From their home that served as a station, they helped numerous slaves escape. The Hudson Bergen Light Railroad, on Martin Luther King Drive, was renamed in their honor -Jackson Square.

Located in Bergen-Lafayette, the Hilton-Holden House at 59 or 79 Clifton Place, is the only safe house that still standing today. Professor Edward Holden was a colonel in the US Army and trained Union soldiers in the area for the Civil War. A director of the Lick Observatory and the Washington Observatory, Edward Holden installed an observatory on the top of his home for his work and lager used it as a way to signal when it was safe to pass. The cellar of his mansion was a refuge for fugitive slaves. Holden served as president of the Board of Education and as an alderman under John Hilton the first mayor of the City of Bergen, now Jersey City.

Bergen Hill and Jackson Hill: Neighborhoods of Resistance

Two areas in particular are closely associated with Underground Railroad activity in Jersey City:

Bergen Hill

Bergen Hill was home to several Black churches and institutions that functioned as centers of community life and resistance. Churches in this area were uniquely positioned to offer shelter and information while blending into daily religious activity.

Jackson Hill (Jackson Square)

Jackson Hill became a hub of Black community life in the 19th century. Its proximity to transit routes and its strong community networks made it a natural node within the Underground Railroad system.

Buildings in these neighborhoods—some of which still stand—may have served as temporary refuges, though many details remain intentionally obscured.

St. John’s Episcopal Church and Faith-Based Resistance

St. John’s Episcopal Church in Bergen Hill is often cited as a site connected to Underground Railroad activity. Churches like St. John’s were central to abolitionist efforts, providing both moral leadership and practical support. Faith institutions offered more than shelter. They provided trusted networks, coded communication, and spiritual grounding during an era of profound danger. In many cases, churches served as the safest available spaces for organizing resistance.

The Risks of Helping

Participation in the Underground Railroad carried severe consequences. Those who assisted freedom seekers faced heavy fines, imprisonment, violence, and social ostracization. Black residents faced even greater danger, as their involvement could invite retaliatory attacks against entire communities. That these networks persisted despite such risks underscores the courage and moral conviction of those involved.

What Still Exists Today

While much of the Underground Railroad’s physical infrastructure was intentionally hidden, elements of Jersey City’s landscape still connect directly to this history:

Historic churches in Bergen Hill
Residential buildings in Jackson Square dating to the mid-19th century
The Hudson River waterfront, once a critical crossing point

Walking these neighborhoods today offers a powerful reminder that resistance often unfolded quietly, embedded within everyday spaces.

Why This History Matters

The Underground Railroad was not an abstract moral movement—it was a coordinated act of resistance that depended on real people, real places, and real risk. Jersey City’s role in this network challenges simplified narratives of abolition and highlights the city as an active site of resistance rather than a passive backdrop.Preserving and studying this history is essential to understanding both Black resistance and the broader fight for freedom in the United States.

It is said of the 100,000 former slaves and enslaved African Americans that traveled the Underground Railroad, between 50,000 - 70,000 came through Jersey City; the location where all routes converged providing access to freedom via New York City, New England, and Canada.

They were driven, hidden in wagons, to the Jersey City waterfront at the Morris Canal basin where abolitionists hired ferry boats and coal boats to take the fleeing slaves across the Hudson River, called the "River Jordan,".

Although so many came through Jersey City, the truth is that most of them continued elsewhere. The majority of Jersey City residents at the time were against the abolitionist movement, influenced by wealthy business owners and politicians - one very such man, an owner of a profitable slave-trading business. In fact, New Jersey was the last state in the North to abolish slavery and was commonly referred to as a piece of the south up north.

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