Second in a series
Established in 1732, Georgia was the last of the original 13 colonies to be founded. Unlike the other British American colonies, the Georgia founders, the Trustees , attempted to prohibit Black slavery between 1735 and 1750. The members were motivated by economic and social interests, not moral implications.
COASTAL GEORGIA’S HIDDEN HISTORY
In 1750 the Trustees were pressured to overturn their ban on Black slavery. After this concession, the number of black slaves in the Georgia Colony increased by over 3000%. In the mid 1760s, Georgia planters began to import labor directly from Africa — specifically from Angola, Sierra Leone and the Gambia.
Now over 250 years later, the history of these captured souls and their descendants is being told. Through the Georgia Historical Marker Program , the Georgia Historical Society hopes to educate travelers on the complex historical narrative of African Americans in Coastal Georgia — an ongoing story that spans from slavery to emancipation to the Civil Rights Era.
The Georgia Historical Society took over the marker program in 1998, following the work of the Georgia Historical Commission. Dr. Stan Deaton, the Dr. Elaine B. Andrews Distinguished Historian at the Georgia Historical Society, is clear on their newfound mission.
“We’re going to tell the stories that the state didn’t,” he said. “Telling more African American history, talking about the history of women, of people who were not considered ‘great’.”
Use the maps below to see where in Coastal Georgia these historical markers are located and embark on a journey of resistance and reconciliation. Click the arrow to begin your trip.
Here is a bird’s eye view of the 15+ markers scattered across Coastal Georgia. This entire map can be covered in a day’s road trip – with a couple stops for gas and food. If a long trip isn’t on the agenda, explore the additional maps below for quicker routes and bite-sized bits of history.
Glynn, McIntosh counties
In the 1800s the Hamilton Plantation served as one of St. Simons Island’s major producers of cotton. This site is representative of the first chapter in the complicated history of Coastal Georgia race relations. Two tabby cabins that housed some of the plantation’s laborers remain well preserved only a few hundred feet from the marker and are open for visitation.
A few minutes down the road you will find a marker commemorating Ibo Landing — an example of outright resistance to enslavement. In 1803 one of the largest mass suicides of enslaved people occurred in Dunbar Creek, St. Simons Island. Not much is known of the event except that the captives marched ashore led by their high chief and headed straight to the water to drown. This event soon gained symbolic significance in local African American history as a display of courage, community and defiance.
Just over the Darien River Bridge stands the source of Georgia’s largest slave sale, known as The Weeping Time. The Butler Island rice plantation was home to more than 500 enslaved workers during the 19th century. Visit this site to learn more about the plantation and see the remains of the recently burned Huston House .
On the side of US 17 stands a beacon of the Gullah Geechee coastal community, now in disrepair. Founded in 1866 by freed people, the Needwood Baptist Church is one of the oldest African-American churches in the state. The nearby one-room school provided elementary schooling for the community during the years of segregation. This site commemorates another act of defiance – seeking an education.
Tunis G. Campbell , one of the highest-ranking and most influential African-American politicians of the 19th century, was largely forgotten by history. Despite his major contributions – including establishing a Black Landowners Association in McIntosh County – he was overpowered by political opposition, jailed, and forsaken when Southern Democrats regained power in 1875. This marker in Inverness Square aims to reincorporate Campbell into the historical narrative.
Brunswick set a national example and became a “ model Southern city ” for race relations during the Civil Rights Era. City leaders quietly integrated Brunswick’s businesses and encouraged acceptance in the city through dialogue and compromise. While racist ideology remained, those resistant to integration were ultimately outnumbered. Visit the Brunswick City Hall at 610 Gloucester Street to learn more about the city’s unannounced advocacy.
Liberty County
Located in the Midway First Presbyterian Church Cemetery, this bronze marker celebrates the accomplishments of Susannah “Susie” King Taylor. Born into slavery in Liberty County, Susie King Taylor attended secret schools to develop literacy skills in her childhood. She later employed these skills to educate other African Americans during the Civil War. Taylor became free at age 14, married Sergeant Edward King, a black officer in the 33rd United States Colored Infantry regiment, and moved to Savannah to continue educating the children of freedmen.
Down North Coastal Highway, just past the Colonial Midway Museum and Melody’s Coastal Cafe, stands Dorchester Academy . In the 1870s the school opened its doors for students of every age, enabling both youth and elderly members of the African-American community to pursue an education. While some of the students were never subjected to enslavement, the elderly attendees understood education as the key to their permanent liberation post Civil War. In 1963, Dorchester would house America’s foremost Civil Rights Leaders including Martin Luther King Junior, Ralph Abernathy and others. Visit this marker to learn more about this historic site.
Chatham County
After 1750 and the repeal of the Trustees anti-slavery ban in the Colony of Georgia, slave importation directly from Africa began. With permission to bring laborers from across the Atlantic Ocean, the colony erected a Lazaretto – an Italian word that translates to quarantine or pest house. African Americans who died on the journey across the ocean – either from diseases, abuse or as punishment for escape attempts – were buried haphazardly and unmarked at this site.
At the southwest intersection of Dunn Street and Augusta Road, one of the bleakest moments in our nation’s history took place. The largest slave sale in Georgia history – known as The Weeping Time – occurred March 2-3, 1849. On this site 436 men, women and children were sold by Butler Island Plantation owner Pierce M. Butler to pay off his gambling debts.
Rain poured for the entire two-day auction, spurring people to believe the heavens were weeping for the inhumanity taking place. Undercover journalist Mortimer Thomson attended the auction and wrote extensively of its events – including how the slaves were stuffed into the horse and carriage stall at the race track, the sorrowful expressions of the enslaved and how the buyers poked and prodded them like livestock.
Madison Square in downtown Savannah is rich in history . The site boasts a large statue honoring American revolution Sergeant William Jasper, two cannons commemorating the first highways of Georgia and multiple historical markers honoring Union General William T. Sherman. On this route, Sherman is of significance due to his Special Field Order No.15 which confiscated a strip of Georgia coastline from Confederate planters, redistributing this land among newly freed Black families.
After Sherman’s Special Field Order No. 15 many freedmen began to settle across Coastal Georgia. However, after former President Andrew Johnson pardoned Georgia planters in 1865 much of their land was usurped. Following this dislocation, 200 former slaves from St. Catherines established a community here in 1868.
Robert Sengstacke Abbott , born on St. Simon’s Island but raised in Chatham County, was a revolutionary journalist and overall citizen. In 1905 Abott moved north to establish The Chicago Defender, an African-American newspaper. This paper included political, social and entertainment reporting on African-American life in Chicago, as well as grim racial news from the southern states. This paper was distributed across regional boundaries, facilitating communication between urban and rural communities and encouraging a new generation of African-Americans to seek prosperity in the north, resulting in the Great Migration .
Established in 1867, Beach Institute was the first school in Savannah erected specifically for the education of African Americans. The institute was named for Alfred S. Beach , editor of Scientific American, and was staffed primarily by white female teachers from the north.
The final marker on this route commemorates a major step forward in the Coastal Georgia Civil Rights movement. During segregation African-Americans were denied access to many whites-only public beaches, including Tybee Island. In August 1960, 11 African-American protestors were arrested at Georgia’s first wade-in to protest this injustice. This act of resistance and others became known as the “ Savannah Movement .” Visit this maker to learn more about Civil Rights activism in Chatham County – a fight that took place less than 60 years ago. If you want to learn more about Savannah’s Civil Rights History you can visit the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum in the South Historic District.
Click through to the Georgia Historical Marker program to find more information about this statewide marker initiative.
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