Renee Sauer, Columbus Dispatch via AP A candle in this window at The Rev. John Rankin's house overlooking the small village of Ripley, Ohio, was a beacon of hope for slaves attempting to travel to freedom on the Underground Railroad. Click photo for larger image.

RIPLEY, Ohio -- A candle in the window of the preacher's house high on a hill overlooking the Ohio River meant the coast was clear, that runaway slaves could find temporary refuge on their flight from the South.

For many -- an estimated 3,000 -- it was the first stop on the route to freedom that became known as the Underground Railroad, a series of safe houses where abolitionists, Quakers, free blacks and others hid fleeing slaves from bounty hunters.

This was the home of the Rev. John Rankin, a Presbyterian minister who is reputed to have told Harriet Beecher Stowe the story of a runaway slave and her child who crossed the frozen Ohio River, a tale that Stowe recounted later in "Uncle Tom's Cabin."

Rankin House was typical of hundreds of secret meeting places, churches and homes of well-known abolitionists that were used as safe houses in nearly two dozen states. As one of the few still in existence and open to the public, it is a good starting point to recreate the Underground Railroad experience.

"I tell you what was stunning -- chilling -- was seeing the Rankin House up on that hill because I knew that history, and not much has changed as far as what it looks like," said Joan Southgate, who walked 519 miles across Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York three years ago visiting Underground Railroad sites.

	Tony Dejak, Associated Press Joan Southgate, 75, walked 519 miles across Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York three years ago to recreate the experience of traveling on the Underground Railroad. Click photo for larger image.

"That brought back to me what it must have been like to people on the Kentucky side to look at that beacon of hope," she said.

More than 500 routes are believed to go through Ohio alone, but from the early 1800s until the Civil War, runaways fled to freedom all along the line separating North from South. Some of those routes have been documented but were not general knowledge at the time.

"As with any illegal activity, you didn't run around telling everybody what you were doing," said Betty Campbell, spokeswoman for Rankin House. "And you probably didn't take the same route all the time."

Some of the safe houses, with their secret panels and attic and basement hiding places, are part of Underground Railroad travel itineraries available from the National Park Service.

Although "underground" was a euphemism for secretive travel, some hiding places were, indeed, under ground -- caves, root cellars and the like. Southgate's walk took her to a cellar hide-out at a log house in southwest Ohio's Warren County and to a cave in Ashtabula -- across Lake Erie from Canada -- where even her 4-foot-9 body felt cramped.

Of the estimated 4 million slaves in the pre-Civil War South, about 100,000 are believed to have escaped along the Underground Railroad, north to Canada and south to Mexico and the Caribbean.

	Tom Uhlman, Associated Press The Harriet Beecher Stowe house is a short drive from downtown Cincinnati. Click photo for larger image.

The Park Service lists 60 Underground Railroad historic sites in 21 states. Ohio, with 11, has more than any other. Some, such as the Rankin House, offer guided tours. Visits to others are self-directed, such as the Harriet Beecher Stowe House in Cincinnati. The city is also home to the $110 million National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

About 125,000 people have visited the center since it opened in August and, because it is a "must see" and an overall repository of information about the Underground Railroad, crowds are expected during February, which is Black History Month.

Five states -- New York, Kansas, Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia -- have sites associated with firebrand abolitionist John Brown, who led skirmishes in Kansas and later a raid on a federal armory at Harper's Ferry, W.Va., in hopes of securing guns for a slave rebellion.

Visitors can see Brown's farmhouse and grave site in Lake Placid, N.Y., where he lived from 1849 to 1855; the cabin in Osawatomie, Kan., where he spent the next two years with his sons, also abolitionists; and houses in Samples Manor, Md., and Chambersburg, Pa., where he divided his time while he planned the 1859 raid on the arsenal.

	Pablo Martinez Monsivais, Associated Press President Bush touches the "Slave Pen" exhibit during a tour of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center last summer in Cincinnati. Click photo for larger image.

Last year, about 260,000 people visited the Harper's Ferry National Historical Park about 65 miles northwest of Washington, D.C., spokeswoman Marsha Wassel said. The 3,000-acre site bridges Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia, including Civil War battlefields and the fort where Brown made his last stand before being captured and hanged.

Activities there are self-directed, including walks along hiking trails that overlook the battlefields. One museum on the site chronicles the story of Brown and the abolitionist movement, focusing on the raid and Brown's trial and execution. Brown's family Bible is among the artifacts.

In Auburn, N.Y., visitors can see the Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged, a simple frame home where the former slave -- who became a scout, nurse and spy during the Civil War -- helped more than 300 runaway slaves finish their flight.

In Washington, D.C., there's the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, including the home where the anti-slavery activist lived and worked the last 18 years of his life. Among the artifacts on display are Douglass' hymn book and several walking canes, including one made from remnants of one of John Brown's homes.

Green Line bus service is available here, but most sites require a trip by car. The National Park Service Web site can help find a starting place, and travelers can make up their own route.

People visiting any of the sites will want to allow time to ponder their significance. Southgate, who was 73 when she made her trek, walked about six miles a day, mostly alone and on back roads, and often found herself thinking about the hardships and fears of the runaways.

	Renee Sauer, Columbus Dispatch via AP The Rev. John Rankin and his family helped hundreds of escaped slaves by using their house on a hill as a stop on Ohio's Underground Railroad. Click photo for larger image.

"Every once in awhile, just putting one foot in front of the other ... I could think about how frightening that must have been," she said.

Although her walk took months, a person traveling by car could see half a dozen sites in southwest Ohio in a day.

"There's a real resurgence of trying to find where these sites are, people wanting to see and maybe relive a little of that history," said Rosa Caskey, of the Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center in Wilberforce.

"People go to Ripley, that leads them to the Freedom Center, and from there, if you're interested in history, you're going to want to visit our museum. They all fit together. It's a continuation."

If You Go

GETTING THERE: The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in downtown Cincinnati is accessible by Interstates 71 and 75, and is about 15 miles from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, www.freedomcenter.org or (513) 333-7500. Open Tuesday through Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $12 for adults, $8 for children over 6; group rate available for 10 or more.

David Kohl, Associated Press The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati drew more than 100,000 visitors in its first five months of operation. Click photo for larger image.

DRIVING TOURS: The National Park Service lists accredited historic sites in 21 states, including five associated with abolitionist John Brown at www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/underground/. One is Harper's Ferry National Historical Park, a 3,000-acre site that bridges Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia; www.nps.gov/hafe/home.htm or (304) 535-6298.

DAY TRIPS: The Ohio Historical Center has a suggested itinerary for a two-day driving tour of Underground Railroad sites in southwest Ohio, starting at the Rankin House in Ripley and ending in Warren County at the Null Log House, which has a hiding area in the basement; www.ohiohistory.org/undergroundrr/ or (614) 297-2300. The National Park Service lists Underground Railroad sites by state, including four sites in Ohio and Pennsylvania that are within a 90 minute drive from Downtown Pittsburgh.