The Preservation Society is prioritizing the preservation of African American Settlement Communities throughout the Charleston region. Settled by formerly enslaved people following the Civil War, these vibrant, self-sustaining communities were where free people of color purchased land, built homes, and became successful farmers, fishermen, and tradesmen.
Historic Image of the Old Phillips Community School, courtesy of the Town of Mount Pleasant
Today, many of these significant cultural landscapes survive and are often populated by the decedents of the original community founders, who still live according to the same settlement patterns as their ancestors. Unfortunately, as land values skyrocket, the longstanding kinship networks of settlement communities are threatened by encroaching development, and so much has already been lost.
Left: Sweetgrass drying in the front yard of a property in the Phillips Community, photo courtesy of Brockington and Associates; Right: House of Prayer Pentecostal Holiness Church in the Phillips Community, courtesy of Charleston County.
A recent victory at the Phillips Settlement Community gives us hope for the future. Located east of the Cooper River in northern Mt. Pleasant, Phillips was established in 1878 by freedmen who purchased lands formerly part of the Laurel Hill and Boone Hall Plantations. Laid out as a planned community, the original plat of Phillips is still evident in modern-day surveys.
Plat of the Phillips Community, ca.1875
Recently threatened by a highway expansion project, the residents rallied together, and with the help of other community partners, successfully designated Phillips as Charleston County’s first local historic district and advocated for a less-impactful infrastructure proposal. Our hope is for this positive development for Phillips to serve as a model for other African American settlement communities seeking greater recognition of their unique and often overlooked cultural significance.
Resources
African American Settlement Communities Historic Commission
Town of Mt. Pleasant Settlement Communities Task Force
Charleston County Comprehensive Plan, Cultural Resources Element
Left: ABC News 4 coverage of efforts to list Phillips on the National Register; right: CHS Today piece on Phillips preservation efforts There was a flurry of positive media last week around the work the Preservation Society is undertaking alongside […]
Last month, the PSC received the exciting news that the National Trust for Historic Preservation awarded a grant in support of the nomination of the Phillips Community to the National Register of Historic Places. Under constant threat of encroaching suburban development, a National Register designation will be critical to […]
On Thursday September 3, the PSC attended a community meeting on the impacts of the Alternative 1 proposal to widen Highway 41 through the Phillips Community, led by Phillips Community Association president and vice president Richard Habersham and Jonathan Ford. Photo courtesy of the Post and Courier. Tomorrow, Friday, September 11, is the last day to submit […]
A current Charleston County proposal to widen Highway 41 in Mount Pleasant would negatively and irreparably affect the Phillips community, an intact African American settlement community founded in the late-19th century. Join the PSC in opposing the proposed Alternative 1 in favor of Alternative 7A that would relieve congestion and improve safety without adversely impacting this important, historic […]