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The fifth largest municipality in SC is now as one of the top sea side towns in the United States to live. Bluffton, SC, considered the heart of the Lowcountry, once was and still continues to be an intricate part and home to one of the most fascinating cultures the world has ever known. Gullah culture is alive and very vibrant in Bluffton. Once a bustling area populated with several plantations; enslaved Africans cultivated Bluffton's soil planting and harvesting everything from cotton and rice to indigo and all things in between. The descendants of these skillful Africans, also contributed to the efforts that led to the victory of their own freedom when the Union defeated the Confederate army in the Civil War.

After the Civil War, Gullah natives remained on the land and at one point owned all of the land along the coastal shores spanning from Jacksonville, NC to Jacksonville, FL. In these spaces they built homes, governed communities, built schools, thrived in agriculture harvesting, crabbing, shrimping, built businesses, praise houses and preserved a culture that would ultimately captivate the world all over.

Here in Bluffton, SC did you know that there was a Gullah owned movie theater? Or that before it was known as the Bluffton Oyster Co, it was called the Gullah Co-Op; owned and operated by Gullah families? Did you know that Calhoun Street was once home to a booming Black owned business district which included juke joints, convenience stores, a confectionery, praise houses, and architecturally crafted homes and boarding houses built by freedman? These aren't rumored stories, there is documentation, photos, and first hand account stories that shine a lot on an almost forgotten part of Bluffton's history. Bluffton holds a particular and unique history of Gullah natives working and living between the Savannah, Colleton, and May Rivers. From the low lying Savannah River to the 15 foot bluffs along the May River to the banks of the Colleton River, the water and land have and continue to be a part of life and livelihood for Gullah natives, and we owe it to them to tell the Gullah stories that Bluffton holds.

The Bluffton Gullah Cultural Heritage Center will be the newest addition along the nationally recognized Gullah-Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor. The Bluffton Gullah Cultural Heritage Center is a 501(c)3 non-profit cultural and educational organization, founded in 2021, with tax identification number 87-3243654.

The mission of the Bluffton Gullah Cultural Heritage Center is to cultivate community experiences through education, preservation, and celebration of the region’s rich Gullah history and culture.

Bluffton Gullah Capital Campaign

By Bluffton Gullah Cultural Heritage Center

Bluffton Gullah Capital Campaign

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