I've always lived in the South, but Tybee Island's Black History trail gave me new perspective
In the 12,000-square-mile stretch of coastal North Carolina to Florida that is the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor lies pieces of Gullah history within the Tybee Island Black History Trail.
The trail, which has 13 stops, documents the arrival of enslaved Africans at Lazaretto Creek Quarantine through the Jim Crow era to the journey to present day Tybee Island. Launching virtually last year, the trail was a collaborative effort between Tybee MLK, the Tybee Historical Society and Georgia Southern University.
As a Black woman, as someone who grew up in Alabama only an hour away from Montgomery, where the first large-scale U.S. demonstration against segregation took place, I was interested in the Tybee Black History Trail. In a new state, a new city, I wanted to know how Black people faced fighting for their rights to exist.
I went to all 13 stops on the island, and while most of them don't have physical markers, it's a worthy trip to make. What's important to understand about Black history, is that it's America's history, and it's Tybee's history, long after February passes.
Residents, tourists, wanderers, can go to each stop and learn about that place's history through this map.
The Tybee Lazaretto Quarantine Station and the Middle Passage
I've driven to Tybee Island countless times since moving here but have never stopped to take in the historical marker that sits beside the sign welcoming you to Tybee Island on the right side of the road.
The Lazaretto marker explains the existence of a quarantine station on Tybee for enslaved Africans that contracted smallpox during the Middle Passage. Located on what's now known as the Lazaretto Creek, those who died at the quarantine station were buried in unmarked graves.
I'm a tactile person, so I ran my fingers against the letter of the markers, since there was nothing else to do for me to feel close to this history. I did the same later on in the tour, when our photographer and I stopped at the panels recognizing the Middle Passage on Tybee at 30 Meddin Drive.
I thought about the millions of lives lost without a proper burial.
At least here, there was a marker.
More: Lazaretto Day returns to Tybee for second year for day of remembrance of enslaved past
Brown Cement Factory and Family Home
There was no marker for where the Brown Cement Factory was on Tybee, but it sat at 81 Solomon Ave.
Walter Brown, born on April 18, 1917 on Daufuskie Island, sold fruit on Tybee Island after he moved there at the age of 14. After becoming a carpenter’s apprentice, he opened his own complete concrete business, where he manufactured concrete with his sons.
According to an interview with his son, Walter Brown Jr., for the trail, he remembered people trying to intimidate his father from building their home at its current location on First Street on Tybee. He did it anyway
Alger Avenue and Surrounding Neighborhoods
The trail includes the homes of a few of the Gullah Geechee people the lived in the Alger Avenue area.
Bertha's Cottage on 61 Solomon Avenue is one of those homes that still stands, although now it is a vacation rental. The home belonged to Bertha and Edward Tattnall, who was an expert shrimp and oysterman on the back river. His fish camp, stop 13, is now A.J.'s Grill.
On Alger Avenue once sat Litway Baptist Church and Johnny's Place, a night club, side-by-side. There are now homes there, and one resident who lives there said they can't dig a hole in the ground without hitting brick.
Upon hearing that, I will admit I felt immense sadness tinged with horror. Maybe it was the casual way he said it, or maybe the pit formed in my stomach for some other reason. Maybe it was the fact that late last year I visited Daufuskie Island and stood in the First Union African Church, and I felt sad that Litway wasn't preserved in the same way, with not even a physical marker yet. Just a memory.
The last residence belonged to another Gullah Geechee, Viola Whatley, who made her living in seasonal and domestic work as an adult for a white family on Tybee.
More: A pathway to the past: Tybee Black History Trail dedicated
The 1960s Wade-Ins
The 1960s wade-ins are honored in three ways on the trail; it encourages you to visit the storyboards on 30 Meddin Drive to read about the history of desegregation on Tybee's white-only beach; the historical marker placed the Georgia Historical Society at the beach; and to go to the actual site at 10th street at Butler.
One of the peaceful demonstration tactics used by civil rights activists to protest Jim Crow, the wade-ins to public, white-only beach waters lasted on Tybee from August 1960 until July 1963. It was a youth-led movement conducted by the NAACP Youth Council, and at the first one 11 of 27 students were charged with disrobing in public and convicted of disorderly conduct. Edna Jackson, the former mayor of Savannah, participated in the wade-ins.
Just like when I learned about the students who invented the sit-in in Greensboro, South Carolina I wondered then if I would have the courage to put myself at risk like that. Not even once, but over the course of three years.
More: Tybee Island commemorates Civil Rights history with official unveiling of wade-in markers
Gilyard Cottage Hutment
The Gilyard Cottage Hutment, an encampment, was built for Fort Screven, which was deactivated, between 1900 and 1920. It was given to Joseph "Thomas" Gilyard, who was an employee for the city.
According to an interview done with Gilyard, he used the building as a guest cottage and a place to spend time with friends. It was donated to Tybee Island Historical Society in 2007 and moved to the Tybee Lighthouse property. Both locations, the original and the one by the lighthouse, are on the trail.
One thing I appreciated about this trail was how it recognized that just existing on Tybee was enough to earn a spot here. Black people lived, and this is how they lived and that is important enough to note.
The Inn, Nightclub and Oyster House
On Inlet Avenue, where Chu's Convenience Mart now sits, was the Adams Inn and Nightclub. It was run by Jayne and James Adams, who was the only Black family on the south end of the island in the 1950s and 60s. They lived upstairs, while the nightclub was downstairs.
James also had an oyster house, catching shrimp, fish, crab and oysters in his 30s on Tybee. James Adams Oysters House is also on the trail, at 1601 Chatham Avenue.
Orange Crush festival organizers could face legal liability for throwing unpermitted event
The Pavillion
If you know anything about Tybee Island you may or may not have heard about the Orange Crush Festival, which is now billed as a beach bash for HBCU students across the South. While the official Orange Crush Festival is now in Jacksonville, Florida, it made its way back to Tybee last year, amassing a crowd of 50,000 people on the island.
It started, though, as a beach bash for Savannah State University students celebrating the end of the school year in 1988 - a way to create something special for the HBCU. It was originally sponsored by the Savannah State Student Government Association and attracting a few hundred college students.
After three decades of what many Black students felt was racial discrimination and profiling by residents and officials, the event moved to Jacksonville in 2021.
The Pavilion also marks where Black musicians would've played jazz, swing music and more on Tybrisa after prohibition until the late 1950s. Bands like Earl Hines' band would play in Savannah one night and then in Tybee the next.
C.J. Elmore in his 1999 book All That Savannah Jazz...From Brass Bands, Vaudeville, to Rhythm and Blues talks about the musicians that came to Savannah and Tybee during that time.
Maid's Cottages
There are two maid's cottages on Tybee, one at 1707 Inlet Avenue and at 1711 Chatham Avenue. In an interview done for the trail Walter Brown Jr., said that when white families vacationed at the beach they would bring Black maids with them, These domestic workers would stay in attachments on Tybee homes or underneath in maid's quarters of the classic Tybee raised cottages.
The two cottages on the trails are private property.
Destini Ambus is the general assignment reporter for Chatham County municipalities for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach her at [email protected]
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: What I learned on the Tybee Island Black History Trail
