In the years leading up to the Civil War, Ohio had more African American settlements than any other state. Owing to a common border with slave states, it became a destination for people of color seeking to separate themselves from slavey. Despite these communities having populations that sometimes numbered in the hundreds, little is known about most of them, and by the beginning of the twentieth century, nearly all had lost their ethnic indentites as the original settlers died off and their descendants moved away. This book pieces together the stories of more than 40 of these black settlements.
