Organizers of an upcoming 65-mile walk said they hope to bring more attention to some of the lesser known history of the Rio Grande Valley with an upcoming seven-day journey.

The walk, hosted by the Harriet Tubman Museum and Educational Center in Maryland, will take participants along the path of the Southern Underground Railroad. 

The seven-day-long trip will begin on Monday, March 3, 2025 at Sal del Rey near Edinburg. It’s an important place for the native people of this area, and was an important place to for resources for many centuries.

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The walk will include the perspectives of groups of people that, in the past, lacked political power.

The walk will continue more than 20 miles to Edinburg's Restlawn Cemetery, which was founded in 1928 to be designated as the only place where Black people were allowed to be buried in the Rio Grande Valley.

“Some of the people there, they were born in slavery, but they died free,” Faith Fellowship Church of McAllen Bishop Michael Smith said. “A lot of the African Americans there didn't have tombs, didn't know where they were, where they were buried. But we celebrate that annually."

Smith said he and others here have met for several weeks to plan the Southern Routes to Freedom Walk to bring more awareness about the history of Black Americans at the southern border.

"It allows us to continue to push African American history in the RGV,” Smith said.

Another stop is the Bethel Garden in McAllen, home of the former Bethel Missionary Baptist Church that had a black congregation.

The walk will also take people to the site of the former Booker T. Washington Neighborhood & School for Black Children in Cameron County. It opened in 1942 and closed in 1956 after the district integrated.

The walk will also reach the Webber Ranch and the Jackson Ranch Church and Cemetery in San Juan.

The Webbers and Jacksons provided refuge to escape slaves from Texas and the Deep South as they made their way toward Mexico. 

The walk will continue to the public square in Reynosa to hear from historians there on Sunday, March 9. 

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