What is the Saltwater Railroad?
The Saltwater Underground Railroad was a loose network of places and people that assisted enslaved Africans in their quest for freedom. Traditionally, the Underground Railroad heads North to free states and Canada. In this virtual tour powered by Google Earth™ technology, we focus on the lesser known Southern railroad path from Georgia, South Carolina and Florida to The Bahamas, a former British colony where free Africans developed communities that still exist today.
Experience the Saltwater Underground Railroad through our Google Earth Virtual Tour.
Click the Launch Button to the left to begin.
Our advisory board consists of historians, artists, educators, researchers, and scientists that work together to gather and document the stories found in our virtual tour.
Stefan Moss - Founder/Project Lead
In 2018 Stefan created the Saltwater Underground Railroad Experience. Inspiration for the project came from visits to numerous national and state parks in the southeast, where stories of an "Underground Railroad" going south to Florida and beyond were told. Moss holds a Master's degree in Environmental Science from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and is a Level 2 Google Certified Educator. He currently teaches Earth Science in metro Atlanta.
Cherilyn Williams - Visual Artist
Cherilyn is a graphic designer/ illustrator with a degree from the Kansas City Art Institute. She has worked as a designer for 20+ years, in university settings, marketing and as a freelancer, owning her own business, VisuaLanguage Graphic Design. In addition to graphic design, she enjoys painting, ceramics and crafts. She has always also had a love for history and particularly African-American history. She was honored to design an 8-foot display wall which told the story of the 1939 Sharecropper’s Strike in the Missouri Bootheel.
Jason Brown - Archaeologist
Jason A. Brown Sr., is a retired military combat veteran, researcher, educator, mentor, coach, scuba diver, competitive cyclist and co-founder of Step by Step Enrichment Center LLC, a program that provides non-traditional education solutions for students grades K-12. Mr. Brown holds the title of a cultural resources management archaeologist who has a distinction of being a descendent of maroons, notably of the legendary late Sammy Lewis, a former inhabitants of the Angola settlement and later Red Bays settlement in Andros, Bahamas.
Dr. Grace Turner - Archaeologist and Historian
Dr. Turner serves as Chief Archaeologist & Research Officer at Antiquities, Monuments & Museum Corporation in The Bahamas. She is the author of Honoring Ancestors in Sacred Space: The Archaeology of an 18th century African Bahamian cemetery in Nassau Bahamas. University Press of Florida: Gainesville, 2017.
Penelope Nottage - Researcher
Penelope is passionate about research -- especially on Bahamian History. She pursued a Masters in Library Science in 2004 and upon graduation began her sojourn at the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas. In 2014 she moved on to the Bahamas Library Service where she assisted the Director with compiling information on various libraries. She is the Founder of XCEL Information and Research Services.
Daphney Towns - Event Director
Daphney Towns is the president of Oaktree Community Outreach Inc., a non profit organization that promotes the culture, history and folklore of Bradenton and believes in educating residents, especially youth and children. Towns serves as the Event Director for the Back to Angola Festival. Daphney came to the United States of America as a missionary from the Bahamas in 1992, and received her minister’s license in 1995.