National Harriet Tubman Historical Park Closer To Reality

AUBURN, N.Y. (AP) — A national historical park honoring Harriet Tubman in her upstate New York hometown is a step closer to reality.

Sen. Charles Schumer says the Department of the Interior has completed a land transfer agreement that will allow the National Parks Service to formally establish the Harriet Tubman National Historic Park in Auburn. The park still requires approval by the secretary of interior.

The park would encompass the site of Tubman's old home Auburn along with the A.M.E. Zion Church about a mile away where Tubman worshipped.

Tubman is a hero of the Underground Railroad who helped guide dozens of slaves north to freedom. She had been free for a decade in 1859 when she bought a parcel of land on the outskirts of Auburn, about 25 miles west of Syracuse.