Liberty Hill
In 1864 Paul and Harriet Trescott, “Free People of Color” owned 112 acres and sold the land to 4 “Freedmen” in 1871, Ishmael Grant, Aaron Middleton, brothers, Plenty and William Lecque. Liberty Hill (The Hill) is the oldest organized community in the City of North Charleston. It is located between Gaynor Avenue and Mixon Avenue along the E. Montague Corridor. For over 100 years The Hill has been a self-sufficient, self-sustaining community with over 60 thriving businesses. Every need was met for the residents from medical care, goods and services to employment.
Presently, Liberty Hill has an open application at the SC Preservation Office and is up for consideration for Historical Designation on the National Register and is going through a renewal process within Liberty Hill’s “Build, Back, Better Together” Revitalization Plan.
Union Heights
Union heights is one of the earliest predominantly African American communities from slavery time in Charleston County, SC, that still exists today. It was fully incorporated as part of the city of North Charleston in 1997; this place began in 1672 with England’s grants to Lords and 1 or 2 servants. Once the site of Belmont Plantation (Pinckney Woods) was acquired in 1700s by Chief Justice Charles Pinckney, later became known as Horlbeck’s Woods or Hall Back’s Bottom.
Learn more at: https://www.unionheightscc.org/the-history-2
Chicora/Cherokee
Chicora Park was purchased by the Navy and the Charleston Naval Yard was established in 1901. The Shipyard boasted the largest pier and dry dock on the East Coast used for shipbuilding and repair prior to World War I. The Naval Shipyard and Naval Base expanded even more during World War II and remained active until it was closed in January 1996. For almost 100 years, the Naval Yard bolstered the economy and the development of North Charleston as a new city, drawn on planning principals of the progressive era.
Charleston Mayor R. Goodwyn Rhett headed a group of investors who organized the North Charleston Corp. and the Filbin Corp. After they had purchased the Burton tract, WB Marquis of Olmsted Brothers Engineering Co. designed the proposed town. In 1914, the North Charleston Development Corp was organized to construct houses for the area. The first residents moved there in the same year. It was about this time that the term “North Charleston” evolved.
Learn more at: https://www.northcharleston.org/residents/community/history-cultural-heritage/
Howard Heights
Formerly a part of the then all white Windsor community. Howard Heights, a much smaller African American community developed in 1943 along with the employment boom at the Navy Yard. Dr. J. Hoffman, a prominent African American doctor named the community in honor of Howard University. The late Rev. Samuel Martin, Sr. one of the founding members of Mt. Olive Baptist Church was instrumental in the development of Howard Heights.
Some of the families that acquired land in 1940s were, the Paynes, Robertson, Browns, Wilson, Calhoun, McCray, Martin, Washington, Hoffman, Jackson, Murray, Clark, Thompson, Gibbs, Sheppard and Nelson.
Union Heights and Howard Height were founded as residential communities on soggy and swampy land deemed valueless, for the black employees of the companies surrounding the community. Separated by a deep ditch was the adjacent community of Windsor Place. A neighborhood for primarily white shipyard workers. Homes within the sub-neighborhoods of Union Heights and Howard Heights are believed to be built from the scrap pieces of lumber, according to one historian. This would account for the irregular lengths of boards visible on many of the homes currently existing in Union Heights.
Learn more at: https://www.unionheightscc.org/
Accabee
The Accabee Community is one of the few older neighborhoods in North Charleston, S.C. where generations of families still reside in homes built by their ancestors. We take pride in living next to neighbors that personally knew our parents, grandparents, and other close relatives. The stories shared are a priceless oral history about the community that we call home.
Windsor
Windsor is a historically significant neighborhood in North Charleston, SC settled by formerly enslaved people.
Five Mile
Five Mile is a historically significant neighborhood in North Charleston, SC settled by formerly enslaved people.
