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Mycles Cycles
For advice on bike routes on both the Ohio and Kentucky side of the river contact Mycle's Cycles 937-378-5700 www.myclescycles.com
Services offered: sales and repairs, arrange guided bicycle tours of Underground Railroad sites, support van transportation and bicycle rentals.
Brown County Tourism
For tourism information or copies of brochures contact Brown County Tourism
| Ripley Bicycle Route |
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To do & see:
Where to eat:
Where to stay: Call the Brown County Tourism Office for lodging options in the area, 937-378-1970.
The village of Ripley was an important stop on the Underground Railroad. Situated on the banks of the Ohio River, a dividing line between slavery and freedom, this borderland community had some of the most active stations in Ohio. The geography helped shape its role; creek beds threw off tracking dogs, and hills and valleys provided excellent hiding places and escape routes.
 It as in this setting that Rev. John Rankin crossed the Ohio River on December 31, 1821, to begin his new life in a free state. An active abolitionist and Methodist minister, Rankin and his entire family became well known by both freedom seekers and slave holders alike for their role in the Underground Railroad. The Rankin House, located on Liberty Hill, overlooks the Ohio River and the town of Ripley and is one of the most recognized sites on the Underground Railroad. Rankin said, “My house has been the door of freedom to many human beings but while there was a hazard of life and property, there was much happiness in giving safety to the trembling fugitives.The Parker House, owned by John Parker, advanced his status from former slave to successful  patented inventorand businessman in Ripley before the Civil War. He is credited with assisting hundreds of slaves as they made their way north to freedom. According to Parker’s recorded journals, the real warfare against slavery in the borderlands along the Ohio River was waged around the few houses at the top of the riverbank on Front Street in Ripley. The village became so well known that Rev. Calvin Fairbanks, also an active conductor on the Underground Railroad, was told that Ripley was a “black, dirty Abolition hole” when he crossed the ferry to Ripley in 1844.
During the Civil War, General John Hunt Morgan and other leading Confederate raiders had sworn to burn this “damned abolitionist hellhole to the ground.”
In February, 1838, a Kentucky slave woman and her young child crossed the partially frozen Ohio River with slave hunters on the chase. Somehow she managed to escape both her tormentors and the melting pockets of ice that broke with her every step, plunging her and the baby into its freezing waters. Wet and frozen, she sought refuge at the Rankin home. Later, Rankin recounted her story of courage to Harriet Beecher Stowe. This story, in turn, inspired the character of Eliza in Beecher’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
Ripley’s history continues to inspire and intrigue historians, residents, and visitors. As you travel through Ripley, picture the past – slaves escaping the river, running through the alleys, and climbing the steep bank to Rankin’s house, the beacon of freedom. And think about the dangers for those who believed that enslaving humans was wrong – great Americans who put their convictions in motion and had the courage to say no to slavery. |
Recommended for beginner cyclists this 8.9 mile trip has a slight uphill grade both leaving and entering Ripley. Schwallie Rd. is essentially one lane with residential-only traffic and the last mile all downhill to Ripley Rd.
On June 11, 1863, Morgan's troops marched out of Alexandria to embark on the greatest of all his raids, the one which would carry them through Indiana and Ohio to the farthest point north reached by any Confederate troops. The division was finally captured and imprisoned, but General Morgan made a daring escape from prison. However, he was killed by Federal troops in Greeneville, Tennessee, on September 4, 1864.
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