This site is on the St. Louis Riverfront Trail, three miles north of downtown St. Louis, just north of the Merchants Bridge. The site can be accessed from the Prairie Avenue trailhead of the St. Louis Riverfront Trail (an 11-mile paved trail along the Mississippi River, between the Gateway Arch and the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge).In the early morning hours of May 21, 1855, a small group of runaway slaves and their guides crossed the Mississippi River from St. Louis, attempting to reach a route to freedom through Illinois. Accompanying them was Mary Meachum, a free woman of color, the widow of a prominent black clergyman. The area is marked by a designation sign. A colorful wall mural by the students of Logos School interprets the Meachum event. In December 2001, the Meachum site was dedicated as part of the National Park Service’s Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.