Mitchelville, S.C.: The Town that Time Forgot

It's an area well-travelled....but, truly, not very well known. In the 1860's a small parcel of land known as Mitchelville existed in South Carolina.

"Mitchelville was a black freedmen's village after the Civil War that actually was planned as early as 1861 and 1862 specifically after the Union forces captured Hilton Head," says historian Dr. Charles Elmore.

Located at the northern end of the island, the community covered 150 acres and at one time had a population of about 15,000.

Built during the Civil War, the area gained recognition for creating a sustainable, self-governing community of freed slaves.

Named after it's organizer, Union Army General Ormsby Mitchel, the village was considered "an experiment in freedom"... marking a turning point in history.
"His crowning achievement of course," Elmore says, "what we remember him for in the history books is planning and making Mitchelville possible for African Americans... for their freedom then... and for the legacy that we're talking about right now."

Mitchelville was divided into districts. The people elected their own leaders. It's Mayor was Reverend Abraham Murchison- a former deacon at Savannah's First African Baptist Church. He came to South Carolina and formed a church of his own- First African Baptist of Mitchelville. It still stands today.

March Haynes, a deacon out of Savannah's First Bryan Baptist, served as the town's marshal. Haynes was a commando spy at Fort Pulaski and an underground railroad conductor.

They, along with the town council, established the first compulsory education law in South Carolina.

A one room school house, built years later kept it's doors open until 1954. It's the only one still standing in the state.

With the passage of time Mitchelville disappeared and freed slaves settled on other parts of the island.

Today, many who have ties to the community want to bring it back.

Herbert Ford's family has lived on the island for generations. "My parents and foreparents lived in this community," Ford says. "My family heritage is originally from the Drayton Clan and Mitchelville is a part of the Drayton Plantation."

Ford is now chairman of a planning committee that's working to make sure Mitchelville isn't forgotten and that this important piece of the past has it's place in today's history.

"What we've been told by the local Chamber of Commerce is that we have about 2 million visitors that come to Hilton Head on an annual basis," says Ford. "About 30-percent of those visitors are interested in history. So, this would be an opportunity for them to experience history that occurred back in the 1800s. It's not only a part of the history of South Carolina but it's a part of the history of our nation."

Ford is asking anyone who may have pictures, artifacts, or information pertaining to Mitchelville to contact the Native Island Business and Community Affairs Association or NIBCA at 843- 689-9314. Their goal is to create a living history museum to commemorate the community.