The Reservation

Free African Americans settled in this area prior to the Civil War, forming a community later known as The Reservation. The population grew as emancipated people arrived during and after the war. Residents of the self-sustained community owned farms and businesses, cultivated oysters, and built a school, fraternal halls, and three churches. Among those buried at Cheesecake Cemetery, final resting place of many community founders, is Medal of Honor recipient Edward Ratcliff, who served in the 38th U.S. Colored Troops in the Civil War. In 1918, the U.S. government used eminent domain to establish a Navy mine depot here during World War I, displacing hundreds of African American residents.