Governor Martin O'Malley Announces Funding For Harriet Tubman Visitor Center

CAMBRIDGE, MD (August 16, 2011) -- Governor Martin O'Malley today announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded the State of Maryland $8.5 million in Federal Transportation Enhancement Program funding for construction of the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center in Dorchester County. This is the final funding component necessary for the $21 million project of national significance to move forward.

The construction is estimated to support as many as 225 local jobs in all facets of the construction industry over the course of a year. In addition, Harriet Tubman State Park, the site of the center, will directly support 10 full-time employees as well as spinoff jobs related to hospitality, tour guides and recreational activities. Upon completion of the center, visitation to the park is anticipated to grow to more than 200,000 annually, with an anticipated long-term economic impact of $20 million annually.

The long-awaited Visitor Center, 10-miles south of Cambridge on Maryland's Eastern Shore, is the key component of an effort to create a Scenic Byway and National Historical Park honoring Maryland native Harriet Ross Tubman. This historic endeavor is extremely important to Eastern Shore residents and is of local, regional, national and international significance. Groundbreaking for the center will take place next year, with the center slated for completion in 2013, 100 years after Tubman's death.

The project has been made possible by unparalleled collaboration at the federal, state and local level. The Maryland Departments of Natural Resources, Business and Economic Development, Transportation via the State Highway Administration and General Services are all project partners.

Senator Barbara Mikulski played a critical role in obtaining nearly $1 million in Housing and Urban Development grants for the project. Senator Ben Cardin is currently pursuing a National Historic Park designation that would create a National Park Service unit comprising significant lands in Dorchester, Caroline and Talbot County. The Maryland Departments of Business and Economic Development, Natural Resources, Transportation via the State Highway Administration and General Services are all project partners.

The center will provide a year-round exhibit exploring Tubman's birthplace and early life in Dorchester County, and her successful efforts to help slaves secure freedom. The facility also will provide information about the federally-designated Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway, which winds from Maryland north to Ontario, Canada.

Underground Railroad 'conductor' Harriet Tubman was born in Dorchester County on the Madison Plantation of Anthony Thompson. Tubman escaped to freedom in 1849, after which, she made 13 trips to Maryland, leading 70 of her family and friends to freedom.

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