“If the State Highway Administration dedicates state Route 33 for former Talbot County resident and prominent abolitionist Frederick Douglass, it will not be with the blessing of the Talbot County Council. The council considered a suggestion from a St. Michaels group to dedicate the road to Douglass. The vote failed, and the council will make no recommendation, leaving the final decision with the state. Council President Philip Carey Foster and Councilman Corey W. Pack supported the request, but were outnumbered by Councilmen Dirck K. Bartlett, Thomas G. Duncan and Levin F. “”Buddy”” Harrison IV.

Earlier this year, the St. Michaels Town Commission sent a letter in support of dedicating the road, as opposed to renaming it, which would involve the expensive process of changing the name on maps, signs and mailing addresses. Duncan and Bartlett, though, questioned dedicating a road for a man who had been dragged down that road in chains from McDaniel to Easton after he was caught trying to escape from slavery. Duncan equated the move to naming the cell where Douglass was held at the Talbot County jail after him.

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