Jail Hill District is loosely described on the Internet as Cedar Street in Norwich, but that area encompasses much more than that.

Jail Hill gets its rather unoriginal name after a jail that was built on a hill there in 1834, which stood between Fountain and Cedar streets. The jailhouse overlooked the city’s downtown area. If you want to see the original spot, it’s a currently vacant lot at 16 Cedar St.

The roughly 37-acre district included the areas of School, John, Fountain, Cedar, Happy, and Old Division streets. Development of the area began in the 1830s and was largely complete by 1865 after the Civil War.

Architecture included Greek Revival and Italianate styling, while Queen Anne elements were also present.

The earliest settlers were freed slaves, who purchased land here beginning in the 1830s.

Two families specifically that are noteworthy to this period are those of Harris and Williams. They were essential in abolitionist movements, and some even moved south after the Civil War to establish schools to provide education for emancipated slaves. Charles Harris was a subscription agent for “The Liberator,” an anti-slavery newspaper founded by abolitionist pioneer William Lloyd Garrison. The importance of the movement isn’t just from those two families, James Lindsey Smith was an escaped slave in Virginia and took the underground railroad to make his way to New York with the help of David Ruggles, who helped Smith to catch a steamboat up the Connecticut River.

After marrying and moving to Norwich in 1842, he became the owner of a successful shoemaking business. His children attended Norwich Free Academy.

Jail Hill itself is now stop 7 on the newly constructed Norwich Freedom Trail, one of two projects recently completed by the Norwich Historical Society and The Walk Norwich Trail Program. The trail mainly concentrates on the abolitionist movement and important sites to African-American culture but also features some more modern history in Norwich.

Jail Hill is the focal point of the trail that goes from the district over to Ellis Walter Ruley Memorial Park.

The Walknorwich.org website says that “little is known of the operation of the Underground Railroad in Norwich, (but) it is likely that white and black members of the Second Congregational Church were involved. Edmund Perkins, a white attorney and member of the church, was mentioned as the leader of the Underground Railroad in Norwich in the 1850s by an informant of Wilber H. Siebert in the 1890s.”

The Freedom Trail consists of 16 stops. Along the 1.5 mile, somewhat strenuous hike, people will see the following sites: David Ruggles Freedom House, Norwich City Hall, Lottie B. Scott House, Guy and Sarah Druck House, La Famille De L Eglise Dieu, James Lindsey Smith House, Jail Hill, Elisha Williams House, Charles H. Harris House, the former New London County Jail and Courthouse/City Hall, former Norwich Female Academy, The Wauregan (House), Buckingham Memorial, John F. and Marianna Slater House, Ellis Walter Ruley Memorial Park and Boston Trowtrow Gravesite.

The people who lived on Jail Hill could easily see ships arriving on the Thames River. The way the hill overlooks the harbor as you walk the trail is really quite breathtaking. It’s not the same as looking at a picture because your view is always slightly changing but nevertheless picturesque.

It really paints the city in a new light when you stop to embrace it and just feel present, with your eyes forever forward into the horizon.

The person in charge of the Walk Norwich Trail Program and Norwich Historical Society, Regan Miner, has high hopes for all the positivity the new trails are bringing. The program recently finished its third and fourth trails, The Millionaires Triangle Trail and The Norwich Freedom Trail.

The completion of the two trails comes after the organization’s success with the trails’ predecessors.

Walknorwich.org has four other trails, and when the pandemic hit, even the trails went virtual. In spring they produced mini virtual tours of two trails, Uncas Leap Trail and The Benedict Arnold Trail, and have been very well received.

They take you on the trails while providing in-depth explanations and even slides to help further explain a lot of the significance of the sights. They really are quite peaceful and tranquil even as your eyes pan across at a pixelated screen. The virtual tours had such success Miner said she was just awarded a grant to do a similar project with the Millionaires Triangle and Freedom Trails.

“The district is still very well intact,” Miner said. “The residents today have a real strong sense of community, and they really take pride in the history of their neighborhood. I’m thrilled we were able to add the sign commemorating the district, and also happy this place is recognized on the National Register of Historic places as well.”

Jail Hill is a symbol of the very foundations and morals of this country, and that is if something is going wrong, you stand up for what is right. There might not be a jail on the hill any more, but the hill still overlooks Norwich Harbor in a way where it is looking over to offer wisdom and guidance. Jail Hill offers a beacon of hope to an even brighter future. The more we learn from our past mistakes, the more we grow to become the people we’ve always wanted to be, and that is a message we can all believe in.

Brian Barganier lives in Salem.