Affricanna Town 1864-1867

Affricanna Town 1864-1867 is a Tennessee historical marker in Montgomery County.

On the dam in Dunbar Cave State Park, 401 Old Dunbar Cave Rd, Clarksville, along one of the park’s walking paths near the actual village, approx. 40’ from Dunbar Cave Road

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Following emancipation in Tennessee, freed people from surrounding areas took refuge inside U.S. military lines at Clarksville. Exercising their newfound freedom, they built a free, Black village near Dunbar Cave. A former enslaver called the settlement “Affricanna Town.” Those who lived here built their own temporary homes and kept small garden plots. It was mostly families of U.S. Colored Troops soldiers that lived at the village. The village was separate from the refugee camp in Clarksville managed by the U.S. military and was not subjected to the refugee camp’s poor conditions. Many in the African American community in Montgomery County today are descended from these survivors of enslavement.

TodayHistorical map

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David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1796 · Map of The Tennassee (sic) Government. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1797 · Tennassee Government. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1862 · Johnson's Kentucky & Tennessee (1862) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1864 · Kentucky And Tennessee (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1944 · Clarksville, Tennessee (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)

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What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

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Marker text and location from the Tennessee Historical Commission, as the Commission publishes them on its marker map.

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