Loader Image

Mitchelville Hilton Head Island South Carolina

Hilton Head Island SC 29928
United States

The area is known as "The First Self-Governed Freedmen’s Town in America" and was originally formed on Hilton Head Island. Before the Emancipation Proclamation was signed in 1863 and at the height of the Civil War, a group of escaped slaves, considered “contraband of war,” set about forming their own town on the grounds of a former plantation. Rather than one of the more prevalent camps, Union General Ormsby Mitchel created an actual town — with orderly streets, wooden homes, a church, and most importantly, freedom for its inhabitants. The newly minted citizens went about their business with elections, enacting the state’s first compulsory education law for African Americans, collecting taxes, making a living and naming their town “Mitchelville” in honor of the forwardthinking general.

Organizations

ARDA Logo CRTA Logo AMDETUR Logo Inc5000 Logo

Security

Trusted Site Seal Authorize.net Logo

Hide this record?

Make visible this record?