A history of freedom: Westfield an important stop on the Underground Railroad

20 Jul 2026


Local

When Indiana was still a frontier of swampland and forests yet to be tamed, a group of Quakers from North Carolina settled in the central part of the state, naming their new home after the southern community they had left: Westfield.

Town founders Asa and Susannah Bales and many others brought their Quaker values, including a strong opposition to slavery, with them. Soon after it was officially platted in 1834, Westfield became a key stop on the Underground Railroad — a series of secret routes and safe houses for people escaping slavery from the American South. 

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