New Philadelphia was the first US town platted and registered by an African American. A formerly enslaved man, Free Frank McWorter, founded New Philadelphia in 1836 and purchased freedom for himself and 15 family members.
New Philadelphia - A Brief History
New Philadelphia’s story begins in 1777 South Carolina with Frank’s birth to Juda, an enslaved West African woman. He spent the first 42 years of his life in bondage, and during that time moved to Kentucky with his enslaver in 1795. On the Kentucky frontier, Frank met his wife Lucy and together they started a family. During time he was not required to work directly for his enslaver, his time and skills were hired out to other pioneers. This is a practice some enslavers allowed because they collected part of their earnings. In addition, Frank mined local caves for saltpeter, a component of gunpowder, vital for life on the frontier and in demand for the War of 1812. While Frank was known for his ingenuity and hard work, the opportunity to earn income was not an option for many enslaved people.
After some time, Frank saved enough money to buy the freedom of then-pregnant Lucy. This ensured that the child she was carrying and subsequent children would be born free. Two years later, in 1819, he purchased his own freedom. In 1829, Frank traded his lucrative saltpeter operation for the freedom of his son, Young Frank, who escaped slavery and was living as a fugitive in Canada. In 1830, Free Frank, Lucy, and their freed children moved to the free state of Illinois, where Free Frank had purchased land, and set up a pioneer homestead and farm.
In 1835, Free Frank McWorter paid $100 for an eighty-acre parcel of land. He laid out the town he called Philadelphia on 42 acres of that land and platted the parcel into 144 lots. With this land Free Frank hoped to create a safe and affordable community for Black and White Americans. This philosophy proved successful and fostered a community that was prosperous with no reports of racial violence.
This excerpt of an April 1998 aerial photograph on this page from the U.S. Geological Survey shows the landscape on which New Philadelphia was located. Approximate graphic depictions of the town lots and streets, as platted by Free Frank McWorter in 1836, have been overlain onto this aerial photo.
The site became a unit of the National Park Service in December 2022. The National Park Service will work to establish a presence at New Philadelphia National Historic Site to further elevate Free Frank McWorter’s life and legacy. See links below for more information.
New Philadelphia Association
New Philadelphia National Historic Site
Logging Requirements
In order to claim this cache please post a picture of yourself at posted coordinates. If you are shy and don't want to be in the picture, post a picture of a sheet of paper including the caching handle(s). I hope you take a look around and learn a little bit about the history here.
I love Virtual caches that take me to places I likely would not have found on my own. It is an added bonus when those Virtuals take me to historical sites that also can be a learning opportunity. So as soon as I got the notice that a new Virtual was headed my way, I knew what I wanted to do with it.
I hope this Virtual brings some new people to this site that may not have stopped here on their own.
For those with National Park Service Passport books, stamps are available in the Barry, IL town hall and library during operating hours.
Virtual Rewards 4.0 - 2024-2025
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between January 17, 2024 and January 17, 2025. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 4.0 on the Geocaching Blog.