Right now, I'm with Shawn Rogers, Director of Mendenhall Homeplace.

Shawn, I understand that Mendenhall Homeplace is on the National Register of Historic Places.

What's the significance?

- Well, beyond its architectural significance as being one of the most complete and authentic collection of historic Quaker structures in this part of the country, it represents legacy of the other south, the south, the non-slave holding, peace-loving people who actively opposed slavery, promoted the idea of universal education, and the general idea of using peace, peaceful reconciliation, to solve differences above violence and war.

- I think people don't understand who the Quakers were and how they actually helped enslaved people.

Tell me more about what happened at this house, at this place.

- Richard and Mary Pegg Mendenhall, the original owners here, by any measure were considered radical abolitionists.

And for generations, it's been rumored anyway, it's been spoken that they were a part of the Underground Railroad and that this was a quote, unquote, "Station of the Underground Railroad."

Now unfortunately, we cannot prove that.

Most of what we have are a matter of family tradition, oral tradition locally.

But we do know that Richard was one of the co-founders in 1816 of the North Carolina Manumission Society, which helped free hundreds of African-American enslaved people legally.

- When you say legally, why is that key?

- As opposed to the Underground Railroad, which was an illegal operation of sorts, what the Manumission Society did is they found legal means, they basically exploited loopholes in existing laws that would allow them to help these people experience freedom.

- Well then, of course, there wouldn't be evidence here that this was possibly an underground railroad station.

- We have a lot of intriguing circumstantial evidence and also we have an area, it's basically an attic space and in a back porch that's accessible through a low door upstairs.

Now see those joists?

- Yes.

- There are rows of cut nails and nail holes where there used to be floorboards over them.

- Wow, so this is the- - So you could actually crawl in there and go all the way around the corner to the front porch.

- Paint a picture for me, how might the Underground Railroad have operated in this home?

- They would come in under the cover of darkness into one of these hiding places and they would stay there throughout the day and then come out, and a lot of times, they would hunker down in a hiding, in like a safe place, until it was literally safe to continue on.

And in some cases, they could be their days, even weeks, until it was safe enough to move on to the next station as it were.

- And Shawn, I understand you have an artifact here that was very significant in the Underground Railroad.

- We do, and I can't wait to show it to you, would you like to see it?

- I'd love to, yeah.

- Deb, here it is, the Stanley Murrow false-bottom wagon.

This is the only artifact of the Underground Railroad that has been verified, has an established, documented provenance, this is the only one in the South.

- Why is it called false bottom?

- You remove the facing board here and you quickly see there's a false floor that creates a hidden compartment.

Now this hidden compartment extends almost all the way back, it stops about two and a half feet short from the end.

So when you pull the tailing boards or drop the tailgate, all you see is pottery packed in straw.

- Genius, about how many people could you fit in here?

- It really depended on the size of the individual and how many people you're trying to put in there.

But I will tell you this, they learned unfortunately through experience that the odds of being separated were actually lower if they left together as a group, as opposed to, you know, going at separate times.

- Wow.

It's amazing that you have this artifact and can tell this story to kids that come out here, adults, anyone who wants to know more about history and North Carolina history too.

- You know, being involved in museums for the last 20 years, you know, the number one question I field is, is this real?

Of course, you know what they mean.

- Wow.

- Is this authentic?

And to me, there's nothing like the power of authenticity.

When you are in front of something, you can touch something that you know played such a significant part in our history, I mean, it's can be life changing.

- Mendenhall Homeplace is at 603 West Main Street in Jamestown, and it's open Tuesday through Saturday.

For more information, give them a call at 336-454-3819 or go online to mendenhallhomeplace.org.