FERRISBURGH, Vt. (AP) – The Rokeby Museum is getting a $235,000 grant to help recognize the 19th-century farm’s history as a way point on the Underground Railroad that carried slaves from the South to freedom in Canada.

The grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities will help the museum create a new exhibit focusing on the homestead’s significance as a stop on the Underground railroad.

“This is a big deal for us and a big deal for Vermont and this part of Addison County,” said museum director Jane Williamson.

The plan is to construct a new building at the site along U.S. 7 that will focus on two escaped slaves, known only by their first names Simon and Jesse. The two fled Maryland and went through Pennsylvania in the dead of winter on their way to Rokeby. The building will also include a meeting hall to tell other stories of the Underground Railroad.

Rokeby was the 19th-century home of abolitionists Rowland Thomas Robinson and Rachel Gilpin Robinson.

The exhibit will include a short drama based in part of letters exchanged between Rowland Robinson and Jesse’s owner discussing Jesse’s attempts to buy his freedom.

“It obviously had great meaning to Jesse,” said Williamson. Jesse’s owner wanted $300. “Jesse wanted this. He wanted the security.”