Zedekiah Thompson, a formerly enslaved man who self-emancipated and served in the United States Army, is being honored with a Civil War Trail site at the intersection of North Washington Street and Wood Lane. The site, created in partnership with local historians and Civil War Trails, Inc., is part of Rockville’s recognition of Black History Month.
Thompson escaped slavery at 31, enlisting in the 1st United States Colored Troops in June 1863. Wounded during battles near Petersburg, Virginia, he lived out his postwar years in Maine, dying at age 70.
Thompson’s story joins over 1,500 Civil War Trails sites across six states, including 18 in Montgomery County.
