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dISCover<br />
hiLton heAd<br />
isLAnd<br />
HISTORY<br />
Native Americans were the original settlers<br />
of this warm and beautiful coastal resort<br />
community. It became known as Hilton<br />
Head after proclaimed founder William<br />
Hilton landed on it in 1673.<br />
Africans were originally brought to the<br />
island and enslaved to work rice and cotton<br />
fields. They brought the unique <strong>Gullah</strong><br />
culture, which has manifested itself in<br />
language, food gathering and preparation,<br />
values, crafts, and other skills. Hilton<br />
Head is home to Mitchelville, which was<br />
organized in 1862 and is one of the first<br />
settlements of free blacks in the<br />
United States.<br />
POINTS OF INTEREST<br />
Mitchelville<br />
Organized in 1862, Mitchelville was the first<br />
freedman’s village in the United States. It<br />
continued as a town until the 1870s when<br />
Union troops began withdrawing.<br />
Today the city includes privately - owned<br />
property surrounding the intersections of<br />
Beach City and Bay Gall Roads.<br />
20 Discover Hilton Head Island · BCBCC<br />
Cherry Hill School Building<br />
Located at the corner of Bay Gall and<br />
Beach City Roads, the school was among<br />
the first one - and two-room classrooms<br />
built on the island for blacks. The school<br />
opened in 1937. St. James Baptist Church<br />
purchased the building in 1961.<br />
St. James Baptist Church<br />
209 Beach City Road<br />
Among the early churches for blacks, St.<br />
James was organized in 1886.<br />
Drayton Plantation Slave Tabby Ruins<br />
Bay Gall Road<br />
Portions of about five chimneys are all that<br />
remain of slave quarters in what was once<br />
known as Drayton Plantation. The chimney<br />
remains are made of tabby, a mixture of<br />
burned shells used to produce lime, and<br />
water. Tabby work was primarily done<br />
by slaves.<br />
Fort Howell<br />
Beach City Road<br />
Located in a fenced-in area, the fort was<br />
named in 1864 for General Joshua Howell.<br />
The fort was constructed by the 32nd U.S.<br />
Colored Troop.<br />
Queen Chapel A.M.E. Church<br />
114 Beach City Road<br />
This was one of the first AME churches<br />
established in the south by missionaries<br />
who arrived under the protection of the<br />
Union forces in 1863.
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