Owen Sound was the northern most terminus of the Underground Railway used by escaped slaves in the 1800s. Every year since 1862, a picnic has been held in Harrison Park on August 1st to celebrate the British Commonwealth Emancipation Act of August 1, 1834. In 2004, the Black History Cairn was built as a monument to the city?s black settlers. It was designed by local artist and author Bonita Johnson de Matteis, a direct descendant of one of the slaves who took refuge in Owen Sound.
