Ripley, Ohio, a community rich in history, holds a number of prominent residential and commercial buildings which still exist that were once owned by antislavery men and women. Most of these men and women worked as "conductors" on the Underground Railroad out of Ripley. Front Street is probably the most notable section within the historic part of town being comprised of four to five long blocks of elegant homes, several of which were owned by the conductors.

Various monuments erected during the village's Centennial Week in 1912 commemorate Ripley's noted abolitionists and "railroaders." The Liberty Monument at the foot of Main Street on the Ohio River remembers local antislavery figure Reverend John Rankin and others, such as Colonel James Poage (Ripley's founder), Thomas McCauge, Thomas Collins, Dr. Alexander Campbell, Theodore Collins, Samuel Kirkpatrick, John Parker, U.S Senator Alexander Kirkpatrick, and others outside of Ripley who served the fugitive slaves on connecting routes north of Russellville, Red Oak, Decatur, and Sardinia according to one source documented by Eliese Bambach Stivers (Ripley, Ohio: Its History and Families). As there were many stops along the route taken by the escaped slaves seeking freedom and space is limited, key points of interest will be described on this page. To see the sights and hear the stories, a visit to our town of Ripley, Ohio is recommended.

The Rankin House was a major stop on the Underground Railroad in Brown County.

Slaves had been escaping to freedom in the North since before the Revolutionary War. Ohio was a particularly desirable haven, because the Ordinance of 1787 prohibited slavery in the Northwest Territory. Escape became more difficult with the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, under which slaves captured in free territory could be returned to their masters if ownership could be established.

Abolitionists, such as those mentioned earlier, devised a variety of ruses to outwit the slave hunters. Secret hiding places were built in houses, barns, and stores. An intricate system of alternate routes was established. Disguises were used, and pursuers were led on fruitless chases by decoys. False information was fed to eager, unsuspecting slave owners. Meanwhile, the slaves were hidden, fed, clothed, and sent north to Canada. The abolitionists risked heavy fines and imprisonment, and the Southern slave owners offered rewards for the assassination of better-known abolitionists.  Such abolitionists included the Reverend John Rankin and the freed slave John Parker.

The Rankin House, located on Liberty Hill which overlooks the Ohio River and Ripley, is one of the better known sites which assisted in the Underground Railroad efforts. One hundred steps led from Ripley to the House on the hill; these steps were recently refurbished through a community-wide fund raising effort. 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. They were all children of God by creation and some of them I believe were redeemed by the blood of the Lamb." Rankin's first home was located at 220 Front Street.