Once they arrived in Ohio, some fugitive slaves decided to remain in the state. They usually settled in neighborhoods with other African Americans. Many fugitive slaves continued on to Canada. At least eight cities, including Ashtabula, Painesville, Cleveland, Sandusky, Toledo, Huron, Lorain, and Conneaut, along Lake Erie served as starting points to transport the fugitives from slavery to freedom in Canada. Historian Wilbur Siebert believes approximately three thousand miles of Underground Railroad trails existed in Ohio.
It remains unclear exactly how the Underground Railroad acquired its name. One account involves Ohio. In 1831, Tice Davids, a fugitive slave, fled from his owner in Kentucky. Davids swam across the Ohio River with his owner in close pursuit in a boat. Davids reached shore a few minutes before his owner. After landing his boat, the owner could not find his slave. The owner said that Davids "must have gone off on an underground road."