Turns out, a brick tunnel had been hidden since the 1800s under the Merrick Art Gallery in New Brighton.
"We are not positive, but we do think it may be related to the Underground Railroad," said Michelle Long, director of the Merrick Art Gallery. "We'd have to prove it a bit more, but in my heart and mind there's a connection."
New Brighton historians have, after all, previously documented several locations in the borough that served as Underground Railroad destinations helping slaves find freedom prior to the Civil War.