Hilton Head puts renewed focus on site of former freed slaves' village

A little-known piece of Hilton Head Island's history could one day come to life.

A group of native islanders and town staff are developing a plan to turn a tiny sliver of town-owned land on the northern end of the island into a living history museum to commemorate Mitchelville, the first freedmen's village in the United States.

Museum planners would build replicas of the freed slaves' 12-by-12-foot wooden tract houses and general stores, said town community development director Charles Cousins.

The idea is in the very early planning stages, said Curtis Coltrane, assistant town manager.

Foundations of tabby -- a building material made of shell, lime, sand and water -- are all that remain of the village's former structures. The village once stood on a parcel now occupied by the Hilton Head Airport and parts of Port Royal Plantation. The only marker to commemorate the site is a plaque at Mitchelville Beach Park.

The village, built during the Civil War, drew international attention for its efforts to create a sustainable, self-governing community of freed slaves. It was named Mitchelville after Union Gen. Ormsby Mitchel, who oversaw its construction.

The initiative to re-create part of the village on a small parcel at the intersection of Beach City and Dillon roads was brought before the Town Council by an ad hoc committee of residents this summer. The committee is working with the town to develop a master plan and fundraising ideas.

The committee is looking for money from private and public sources, said Thomas Barnwell, a committee member and fifth-generation island resident.

At the annual Town Council goal-setting workshop Nov. 19, Mayor Tom Peeples noted the site's importance. "This is a nationally, historically significant place, and we have an opportunity to address the historical tourism side of Hilton Head."

Costs are unknown at this early stage, but they could be significant, given the delicacy of working around historical ruins, said town manager Steve Riley. Any site at Mitchelville would take many years to put together, town officials said.

The project has drawn interest from the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission. The corridor is a $10 million initiative Congress created in 2006 to protect the Gullah heritage, from North Carolina to northern Florida.

Mitchelville was added by the commission to its list of planned preservation efforts last summer.

"Mitchelville is one of those turning points in terms of America's quest to provide freedom to formerly enslaved individuals," said Michael Allen, corridor spokesman. "The corridor is very interested in how Mitchelville is being preserved."

The commission hasn't yet decided how to allocate its funds, but considers Mitchelville one of its priorities, Allen said.

On the state level, the S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism expects the project to be included in a large-scale tourism plan for the state being drafted by consulting firm Tourism Development International.

Mitchelville is one of several black historical sites that have gained attention both in the preservation community and the general public in the past decade, said Marion Edwards, a tourism department spokesman.

"Historically, that was very much underrepresented," Edwards said. "There are efforts under way not just to redress that, but to give a fuller picture of the history of the state."

Historic Brattonsville in McConnells is a living history plantation where the slave experience is reenacted. "At Brattonsville, they've begun to introduce African-American history into their story," Edwards said.

Edwards said that few history museums make money but added, "That's not the point."

"It is our academic responsibility to tell the story of South Carolina, and you can't do that if you don't try to tell the full story."

Emory Campbell of Hilton Head Island is chairman of the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor.

His first reaction to plans for a museum? "I am delighted," he said.