A Gullah Geechee settlement founded by freed African Americans after the Civil War is one vote away from winning historic protection in Mount Pleasant. The Snowden community has spent years assembling an application to become a Charleston County Historic District, and county records list the request as case HIST-06-26-00194, asking officials to designate the Snowden Community as a Charleston County Historic District.
Years of Work Culminate in a Tuesday Vote
Snowden is described as the post-Civil War Gullah Geechee settlement community in Mount Pleasant, established by freed African Americans, according to Live 5 News. Community members have worked on the designation application and its contents for years, and the effort now heads to Charleston County Council for a third reading scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 6:30 p.m. The proposed district would stretch across 377 acres from Egypt Road to Hattie Street off Long Point Road.
Getting to this point required significant grassroots buy-in. About 54 percent of registered voters within the proposed district boundaries have signed in support of the application — comfortably above the threshold set by the Charleston County Historic Preservation Ordinance, which requires that at least 51 percent of registered voters within a proposed district support the designation before it can move forward.
Churches, a School and Century-Old Pumps Among the Landmarks
The application documents roughly 10 historical residential and commercial buildings, two civic sites and assorted historic objects that Snowden residents gathered to make their case. Named landmarks include the Long Point Missionary Baptist Church, historical burial grounds, Flipper Chapel and the Long Point Elementary School, the application states, with faith and fellowship described as central to the community's resilience.
Among the more unusual entries are two pitcher pumps — one at 1562 Evelina Street dating back to 1952, and another at 1535 Snowden Road dating back to 1971 — small, everyday objects now nominated as pieces of the community's documented history. The Snowden Community Center, described as a longstanding community pillar and the heartbeat of Snowden, hosts educational, cultural and civic events and anchors much of that daily life.
A Decades-Old Case for Recognition
The push for formal status isn't new. The South Carolina Department of Archives and History confirmed back in 2016 that Snowden was eligible for National Register inclusion because of its association with freedmen's settlements and Lowcountry Gullah culture. A county historic district designation would bring Snowden closer to that National Register listing, though the designation itself is a separate, local step and the application's third reading outcome had not yet been determined as of this report.
Historian Michael Allen called Snowden's addition an important step in the journey, noting that historic settlement communities have served as sanctuaries and places of history, culture and legacy. He said development, gentrification and other pressures have been brought to bear tremendously on these settlement communities — a dynamic Charleston County has acknowledged in a separate moratorium effort aimed at four historic communities, with officials saying the county will keep working with each community on possible overlay districts, rezonings and new historic designations. Allen said what the community ultimately wants is recognition, a voice in decisions and preservation of its heritage.
What Approval Would Mean, and What Comes Next
If approved, the designation would protect more than a dozen cultural landmarks and would also require additional review of whether new architecture fits the surrounding community. Charleston County planner Andrea Melocik-White has said that process examines how new construction fits with the surrounding community and the designation's written description.
Snowden is also seeking inclusion in a pending subdivision moratorium alongside neighboring recognized historic district communities, which would require site plan reviews and mandatory notices to neighbors within 300 feet before new zoning permits are issued. The push echoes efforts elsewhere in Mount Pleasant, where the Ten Mile Overlay District was headed toward a second and final reading that, if approved, would make Ten Mile the first settlement community with matching historic protections in both Charleston County and the town, according to the Post and Courier. The county's own ordinance mandates a public hearing before any historic-property or historic-district designation can move to a second reading, underscoring how many procedural steps communities like Snowden must clear before reaching a council vote.
