By Karen Vance
Enquirer contributor

NEW RICHMOND - In October 1862, a slave named Leroy Lee was captured in southern Ohio and taken to the waterfront of New Richmond, where his captors intended to put him on a boat headed back to slavery.

The people of New Richmond came out of their homes armed and freed Mr. Lee, who later joined the Union Army, fought in the Civil War and returned to New Richmond to live the rest of his life.

That story, documented by Clermont County historian Gary Knepp, is one of many that put the county on the National Park Service's Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.

The New Richmond Waterfront will be dedicated as part of that program at 1 p.m. Saturday at the bandstand.

Oloye Adeyemon, chairman of the African-American Heritage Project and former Midwest coordinator of the Network to Freedom program, will speak as part of the event.

It joins 18 other sites and two programs in the county as part of the network, more than any other county in the country. There are 119 sites and programs in the country that are part of the network, said James Hill, Midwest coordinator for the network.

"The results of our research have exceeded everyone's expectations," said Mr. Knepp, director of the historical office of the Clermont County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

"There are no tunnels - that's a myth - but there are a couple of fruit cellars and that sort of thing. But the really interesting places in Clermont County are where the people devoted to abolitionism lived and worked."

Edna Burns, president of Historic New Richmond, is thrilled the area is receiving recognition.

"I think it's an honor because we're a river town and we're often known for our flood history. These towns have so much more history than that, and it's nice to be recognized for more than just tragedy," Mrs. Burns said.

"The village of New Richmond had one of the first anti-slavery societies, and we have a lot of abolitionist history."

Mr. Knepp is working on a brochure for a driving tour of the county's sites, and he leads tours of the area. When the downtown Cincinnati Freedom Center is completed, the county hopes to become an attraction for tours visiting the area as they make their way east to Ripley to visit the John P. Parker and John Rankin homes.

Mr. Hill credits Mr. Knepp for putting Clermont County on the Underground Railroad map.

"Here's a county that's only one county away from two very famous landmarks, the Rankin House and the John Parker House, which are nationally known for their connection with Underground Railroad, that's really made an effort to bring out their history," he said.

The two-year-old network relies on local historians like Mr. Knepp to identify and research sites and people, and nominate them for consideration.

"If every area or county had someone like Gary working on their research, we would have a much more complete, more rich story of this part of our history," he said.