Livonia Township (later the city of Livonia) had a modest but meaningful role in the Underground Railroad. According to the local historical society, “the village … was known as another haven for slaves escaping on the Underground Railroad.” The area included the community known as Clarenceville, whose hotel – McFarlane’s Inn – was reportedly used as a station.

A striking chapter in Livonia’s abolitionist story involves Elisha and Cynthia Lapham Roberts, a Quaker couple who lived in what is now the Livonia–Farmington area. The Roberts farm sat near a route known as the Grand River Trail, which was used by Underground Railroad operatives in Farmington and neighboring territories. Elisha Roberts later recounted helping a freedom seeker, giving him a poem he had written (rather than cash) to help him on his journey.

Because historical documentation is often sparse and conspiratorial by necessity, many of Livonia’s Underground Railroad stories remain in the realm of legend or local tradition. Periodically, the city hosts programs such as “Underground Railroad Myths and Mysteries: The Story of the Antislavery and Abolition Movement in Livonia,” which encourage residents to explore and question which parts of the oral tradition might be historically grounded.

One local post on social media cites the intersection of Plymouth Road and Stark Road as a known station. Another Livonia Parks and Recreation post states that “several pieces of the Underground Railroad … ran through where Livonia now stands.”

Livonia lay along important overland routes between Detroit and points north. The region surrounding Detroit was one of the last approaches before freedom across the Detroit River to Canada. Because Detroit could become a flashpoint under the Fugitive Slave Act, movements of freedom seekers were often routed through peripheral areas – farms, barns and sympathetic homesteads in townships like Livonia and Oakland County.

Quakers in Michigan were especially active in abolitionist circles, and their networks often carried through to rural townships. The Roberts family’s connections with other Quakers and antislavery activists in New York and Michigan placed them in a key position to assist crossing traffic.

Because the Underground Railroad had to operate in secrecy, firm proof is often scant. Many local stories rely on oral histories, family recollections or the occasional diary entry. That said, projects like the Oakland County Underground Railroad public history initiative strive to assemble evidence-backed records from deed searches, maps, newspapers, and local archives.

In Livonia, the annual lecture series Pathways to Freedom invites historians and citizens alike to investigate local connections to national movements – such as ties to Sojourner Truth and William Lloyd Garrison – and to explore how Livonia parishioners, farmers and churches may have participated in the fight for freedom.

Even if Livonia never served as a major hub on the Underground Railroad, it was part of the web of communities whose everyday contributions made the system possible. The quiet courage of farmers, Quakers, innkeepers, and neighbors combined to transform national struggle into personal action.

By exploring Livonia’s stories – questioning myths, investigating archival leads and preserving its historic buildings – we do more than celebrate the past. We strengthen connections between local memory and national history, ensuring that the courage and resistance of those who sought freedom (and those who helped them) remain vivid and meaningful for future generations.