America’s Oldest Black Town Relocating Due To Flooding Risk

A North Carolina town founded by formerly enslaved people just after the Civil War has survived environmental degradation, racism and governmental inaction. Now, the oldest Black town in the United States seeks to relocate entirely in order to survive the growing impact of climate change.

Plan to relocate entire town

Princetville, North Carolina , the oldest town in the United States that was founded by formerly enslaved people, has long faced the threat of flooding, which has grown worse in recent years. Most recently, 2016’s Hurricane Matthew submerged the town under more than 10 feet of water. With the survival of the town under question, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has made available nearly $11 million to relocate the entire town to higher ground. The state has already helped secure 53 acres of land for the relocation. The plan is to build a new town center, with a government building, fire station and apartments; private developers will hopefully invest in further developing the new location.

The relocation plan settles a long-running debate for the town, which was founded on flood-prone land and has seen increasingly severe environmental disasters. Princeville’s Mayor Bobbie Jones, supported by some of the town’s residents, has sought to maintain the original location. But a plan to rebuild the town’s levee has been delayed by the Army Corps of Engineers, leaving the town at risk. Other residents have accepted individual government buyouts and relocated elsewhere. Others have simply left, though there’s hope that some may return once the new location is established.

A history of endurance

Princeville has survived since 1865, when the town was established by formerly enslaved people shortly after the end of the Civil War. The group of around two dozen recently freed Black people were excluded from the white-dominated town of Tarboro but allowed to settle in a nearby flood plain, which they named Freedom Hill, according to The Washington Post . The town was renamed Princeville in honor of Turner Prince, a carpenter who built many of its initial buildings. In the decades since its founding, Princeville has survived racism and environmental dangers, including at least nine major floods over the years.

In 1999, Hurricane Floyd caused flooding that breached Princeville’s levee, and a similar levee-breaching flood occurred when Hurricane Matthew hit in 2016. After Matthew, the town’s population dropped from 2,300 to under 1,600, per the Post. A plan to reinforce the levee was announced in 2016 but paused in 2023 when the Army Corps of Engineers concluded that the upgraded levee would potentially cause flooding for other towns and cities, such as Tarboro.

With its options limited, it appears that the relocation plan may be the last and best chance to maintain the historic Princeville community. Proponents of the plan hope that it will strengthen and revive the country’s oldest Black town.