This colonial-era courthouse was the site of the 1848 federal trial of Underground Railroad stationmasters Thomas Garrett and John Hunn, prosecuted for helping the enslaved Hawkins family escape from Maryland in 1845. Although both men were fined into near-bankruptcy, the widely publicized trial, which Harriet Beecher Stowe drew on for characters in "Uncle Tom's Cabin," only strengthened their resolve and drew national attention to the abolitionist cause. The courthouse now operates as a museum with exhibits on the Hawkins case and Delaware's Underground Railroad history.