The Old Rock House was the home of Reverend Thaddeus Beman Hurlbut, who was the pastor of the Upper Alton Presbyterian Church (also known as the College Avenue Presbyterian Church) and a friend of

Elijah Parish Lovejoy Elijah Parish Lovejoy (November 9, 1802 – November 7, 1837) was an American Presbyterian minister, journalist, newspaper editor, and abolitionist. Following his murder by a mob, he became a martyr to the abolitionist cause opposing slavery ...

. It is located at 2705 College Avenue in

Alton, Illinois Alton ( ) is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 25,676 at the 2020 census. It is a part of the River Bend area in the Metro-East region of the ...

. It was built in 1834–1835 by Henry Caswell and John Higham. It was a double-dwelling building, with John Higham on the east side. In 1927, the house was owned by Dr. Isaac Moore. The first meeting to organize the Illinois Anti-Slavery Society was held on October 26, 1837. From meeting notes, the meeting started at the church, but due to "disorderly elements", the meeting ended. It was rescheduled for the following day at the Rock House, where the society was organized. This happened just before the pro-slavery riots in Alton on October 28. It was a station on the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...

. Located along the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

, it was a refuge for freedom seekers from Missouri and Southern slave states. Abolitionists and free blacks helped former enslaved people make it from one station to the next location on the Underground Railroad. Tunnels underneath the

Lewis and Clark Community College Lewis and Clark Community College is a public community college in Godfrey, Illinois. It serves approximately 15,000 credit and non-credit students annually. The college has nine locations throughout the St. Louis Metro East, including a campu ...

campus were used to help people gain their freedom.

Lyman Trumbull Lyman Trumbull (October 12, 1813 – June 25, 1896) was a lawyer, judge, and United States Senator from Illinois and the co-author of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Born in Colchester, Connecticut, Trumbull esta ...

of Alton wrote the

Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Thirteenth Amendment (Amendment XIII) to the United States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. The amendment was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, by the House of Representative ...

which abolished slavery in America. College Avenue Presbyterian Church and the Rock House are across College Avenue from each other. A historical marker for both buildings is located at College Avenue and Clawson Street.

References

Sources

* {{Authority control Underground Railroad in Illinois