A thin mattress on the floor is the only furnishing of a third-story garret in the Joshua Hempsted House, the oldest structure to have survived Benedict Arnold’s burning of New London during the American Revolution.

Adam Jackson, a man enslaved by Hempsted from 1711 until 1758, slept here. Hempsted had purchased Jackson for 85 British pounds; when Hempsted died, the last item of his estate inventory referred to an “old Negro man named Adam.” It listed Jackson’s value at 2 pounds.

A visit to Jackson’s attic space was our first stop the other afternoon during a chilly, two-hour walk along a section of New London’s Black Heritage Trail.

This urban excursion, led by trail founder Curtis Goodwin and historian Nicole Thomas, stands out as one of the most educational, memorable and inspiring outings by our hiking group, which customarily tramps through forests and fields.

Akil Peck, a New London city councilor who joined the tour, was particularly moved.

“I grew up in New London, and remember visiting the Hempsted House in third grade,” Peck said. Back then, a tour guide lectured students about Hempsted, a prominent businessman and justice of the peace whose diary of nearly half a century is regarded as one of the most important records of New England colonial life.

Peck, who is Black, said Jackson was never mentioned during that elementary school visit.

“Today’s schoolchildren must learn his story,” he said.

Goodwin, Thomas and others connected with the trail are determined to correct this omission while shining light on the often-overlooked history of slavery in New England.

“This is what I live for,” said Thomas, an assistant site administrator for Connecticut Landmarks who leads tours of the Hempsted House and other historic buildings in the region. She abides by the words of poet Maya Angelou: “You can't really know where you're going until you know where you have been.”

Goodwin said he was inspired to create the heritage trail a few years ago after attending a New London Landmarks lecture that focused on Ichabod Pease, a twice-enslaved man who eventually purchased his freedom and, at age 81, founded New London’s first school for Black children in 1837.

“I decided I had to honor his legacy,” said Goodwin, a former New London city councilor who collaborated with New London Landmarks and local researchers to establish the trail in 2021. The original route featured 15 sites of Black heritage significance; the trail now highlights 17 sites and is expected to continue to grow, Goodwin said.

Among the sites our hiking group visited was the former home of Sadie Dillon Harrison at 73 Hempstead Street, where sociologist/civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois once stayed.

Harrison and lawyer Edwin H. Hackley published the Hotel and Apartment Guide for Colored Travelers, from 1930 to 1931. Seven years later, a Black postal carrier from Harlem named Victor Green published his version of a guide for Black travelers, called The Green Book. It was featured in a critically acclaimed movie in 2019.

Other sites on the trail, all marked with bronze plaques, include the location of the former Dart’s Hall at 2 Atlantic Street, where abolitionist/orator Frederick Douglass delivered four lectures in 1848; Amistad Pier, at Waterfront Park, where the sailing ship Amistad carrying 53 African captives landed following an 1839 revolt; and Shiloh Baptist Church at 23 Franklin Street, New London’s oldest historically Black church.

The trail also highlights the homes of the late Linwood Bland Jr., a charter member and past president of New London’s NAACP; and the late Spencer Lancaster, New London’s first elected Black official. Goodwin said he is proud that Lancaster was alive when he was honored with a place on the trail. Lancaster, a civil rights pioneer, passed away last October.

It would take several hours of walking, using an internet map, to explore the entire self-guided trail. Goodwin said there are plans to include signs with QR codes to help direct visitors. For the time being, there is no official start or finish – visitors may pick up or leave the trail at any point. Guided tours are expected to resume in spring.

Whichever direction or duration you choose, the trail, easily accessible, is a wonderful hiking and educational experience that rewards outdoor enthusiasts and history buffs alike.

A full list of Black heritage sites, and a map, are available at visitnewlondon.org/black-heritage-trail.

More information about Adam Jackson is included in Allegra di Bonaventura’s 2013 book, “For Adam’s Sake.”