ST. LOUIS (AP) - Some local historians and St. Louis civic leaders want to commemorate a historic Underground Railroad crossing near the Mississippi River with a permanent monument.
The riverfront site north of downtown St. Louis marks the point where railroad leader Mary Meachum led a group of runaway slaves in May 1855 from the slave state of Missouri into Illinois, a free state.
KWMU-FM (bit.ly/1gpIDnF ) reports that efforts are underway to erect a more prominent tribute known as the Mary Meachum Freedom Crossing at a site now designated only by a historic National Park Services marker along a riverfront walking and cycling trail.