Buried beneath farmlands in Western Illinois, lies the remains of the first American town founded by a freed slave before the Civil War. The story of New Philadelphia is a little-known episode from our frontier past and a dramatic testament to victory over enslavement. In 1836 "Free Frank" McWorter purchased his freedom from a Kentucky plantation owner and headed North. When he reached Illinois, he planted roots, started a town, and sold enough property to purchase the rest of his family out of slavery. Eventually, New Philadelphia became a thriving, multi-racial community which endured until well after the Civil War. The local landowners, descendants of the town's residents and the McWorter family want to uncover what remains of New Philadelphia to commemorate its place in history. Time Team America was invited to join the research already in progress and to help search for the schoolhouse where New Philadelphia's African American children learned to read and write in freedom.
