Interest in preserving the history of the Gullah Geechee heritage has been growing in recent times. Most people think of the Gullah Geechee as being in the low country region of South Carolina, however, there were a number of rice plantations along the banks of the Cape Fear River in South eastern North Carolina.
Now a major movement to create a blueway and greenway system that will double as green space providing an educational opportunity, connecting the historic plantation sites from Southport to Navassa in Brunswick County, NC.
The North Carolina Coastal Land Trust and Cedar Hill/West Bank Heritage Foundation have come together with the goal to salvage Reaves Chapel in Navassa.
Reaves Chapel, built in the late1860s, is barely standing along the proposed new trail. It has come to be considered among this regionās most culturally and historically significant African American structures. It is one of the oldest African American buildings in the southeastern North Carolina region and has been at risk of being lost until recently.
Initial stabilization efforts were made in 2019 an now work to restore the aging church on Cedar Hill Road was resumed.
A construction team has lifted the structure and has begun to restore the foundation and masonry work.
The new foundation will use the original pillars as well as new ones in order to structurally support the church. Workers will commence repairing and replacing the roof as well as repairing the floors. The stained glass windows that once were attached to the front have been taken to another site to be retired and will be reinstalled when completed. New plans call for parking on the grounds, landscaping and separate on-site restroom facilities.
Reaves Chapel was built by nearly 150 years ago by recently freed slaves who had be farming on nearby Cedar Hill Plantation and other neighboring rice plantations strung along along the bluffs of the Cape Fear river.
The congregation moved the church about a mile inland from its original location near the riverfront to where it stands now using logs and oxen sometime around 1911.
The land on which it now stands was at the time owned by a freed slave from the plantation named Edward Reaves. The congregation renamed the chapel in honor of Reaves.
A number of ancestors of these Gullah Geechee people continue to live in Brunswick County today. Reaves Chapel is one of just a few remaining structures representing their culture.
The African Methodist Episcopal chapel and cemetery were used for several generations, until the congregation dwindled and its doors were finally shut in 2006.
In the time since deterioration has accelerated with the chapel falling a victim to time and weather with the damage reaching a point where it is no longer usable.
With this new project underway it appears that this cultural landmark will be rescued in the nick of time!
Learn more about this project and make donations here:
https://coastallandtrust.org/lands/reaves-chapel/
More About The Gullah Geechee People:
The Gullah Geechee people are descendants of Africans who were enslaved on the rice, indigo and Sea Island cotton plantations of the lower Atlantic coast.
Many of them came from the rice-growing region of West Africa.Ā The nature of their enslavement on isolated island and coastal plantations created a unique culture with deep African retentions that are clearly visible in the Gullah Geechee peopleās distinctive arts, crafts, foodways,Ā music, andĀ language.
Gullah Geechee is a unique, creole language spoken in the coastal areas of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
The Gullah Geechee language began as a simplified form of communication among people who spoke many different languages including European slave traders, slave owners and diverse, African ethnic groups.
The vocabulary and grammatical roots come from African and European languages.Ā It is the only distinctly, African creole language in the United States and it has influenced traditional Southern vocabulary and speech patterns.
Religion and spirituality have played a sustaining role in Gullah family and community life.
Enslaved Africans were exposed to Christian religious practices in a number of ways and incorporated elements that were meaningful to them into their African rooted system of beliefs. These values included belief in a God, community above individuality, respect for elders, kinship bonds and ancestors; respect for nature, and honoring the continuity of life and the afterlife. Lowcountry plantations frequently had a praise house or small structure where slaves could meet for religious services.