Sandwich First Baptist Church

For the
 first two decades, parishioners met outdoors or in homes, 
but in 1847 the British Crown donated an acre of land to the
 congregation so they could build a church. In return for food, shelter and clothing, former slaves,
 who had escaped to freedom across the border between
 Michigan and Upper Canada, would donate bricks they had
 made by hand from the clay banks of the Detroit River.
 The entire church is constructed of these hand-made bricks.


The church was a terminal on The Underground Railroad.
 Two trap doors and tunnels were built to help those escaping slavery make their way from the riverbank to the church unseen. The tunnels were also used to protect individuals who
 were being hunted by slave catchers, who would sometimes 
cross the river and make their way to the church.

A person posted as a lookout would warn the Pastor
 about approaching slave hunters. The Pastor would sing a 
particular hymn such as “I’ll fly away to Glory” to warn members
 who were in danger of being captured. Once they heard the warning song, they would disappear down the trap doors to a tunnel leading to the river. The scene in the box 
depicts a family evading a slave catcher.