The safe house was saved and moved from its original location after the catholic church bought the property and had plans to demolish it to make room for the new school to the south. Wreckers had already torn down the garage when the house became the center of a controversy and was saved by concerned citizens who became known as the Friends Of The Lathrop House. After a court battle and public vote, the City agreed to move the house to where it stands now, in Harroun Park. Built in 1835, the house is one of the oldest in Lucas County. Take a short walk to the house and see some Sylvania history.
Lucian Lathrop acquired this house in 1847 and oral histories reveal that he and David Harroun (Harroun Park), whose farm was across Main St, were very active in The Underground Railroad. David Harroun brought fugitive slaves from Maumee to Sylvania in lumber wagons covered in hay. The slaves were hidden in the attic of the Harroun house, in the hayloft of the Harroun barn, or in the Lathrop house in a secret room in the cellar. In 1939, owners remodeling the basement discovered this secret room complete with beds. From Sylvania the fugitives were escorted north to French settlers on the Detroit River where they were ferried to Canada.