Lincolnville, South Carolina: A Town Founded by Freedpeople

Lincolnville, north of Charleston, is one of the oldest towns in South Carolina founded and settled by African Americans. The Lincolnville Preservation and Historical Society works to preserve and enrich its cultural heritage and intangible traditions, with tours, workshops and meetings that teach residents about the town's history and promote health and wellness.

Richard Harvey Cain

The town began in 1867, when Richard Harvey Cain and several other African American men looked for land to buy from a railroad for an African American community.

Cain was a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church and a central figure in African American religious and political life in South Carolina during Reconstruction. An abolitionist before the Civil War, he came to South Carolina after it to serve the AME denomination, and was integral to building what is now Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. He also:

• owned a black newspaper;
• helped organize the state Republican Party;
• served as a delegate to South Carolina's 1868 constitutional convention, as a state senator, and as a U.S. congressman.

From land purchase to town

Cain and his partners bought 620 acres north of Charleston and resold plots to freedpeople. The first African American residents called the area after one of its several swamps and ponds. In 1889 the town was formally incorporated and named Lincolnville in honor of President Abraham Lincoln.

Today the Town of Lincolnville belongs to the Reconstruction Era National Historic Network and lies within the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor.

Part of a national network

The Lincolnville Preservation and Historical Society joined the African American Civil Rights Network in 2023. Created by the African American Civil Rights Act of 2017 and coordinated by the National Park Service, the network honors the African American Civil Rights Movement and the sacrifices of those who fought discrimination and segregation. It tells the movement's stories through public and private properties, facilities and programs.

Sources

• National Park Service, "Lincolnville Preservation and Historical Society, Inc. (Lincolnville, South Carolina)": https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/lincolnville-preservation-and-historical-society-inc.htm
• Lincolnville Preservation and Historical Society: https://www.lincolnvillesc.org/
• The NPS page says the town was "formerly incorporated" (read here as "formally") and spells the church "Mother Emmanuel" in its text but "Mother Emanuel" in its link; this page uses "Emanuel".