Hamburg-Carrsville African American Heritage District

Hamburg-Carrsville African American Heritage District

NPS Photo/R.Condon

Quick Facts

Location:

317 ½ Barton Road, North Augusta, SC 29841

Significance:

Hamburg was a town re-established by freed African Americans during Reconstruction, and the site of the 1876 Hamburg Massacre. Residents of the town eventually relocated to a bluff above the town in 1929 and named the community Carrsville.

Designation:

Hamburg-Carrsville African American Heritage District is a part of the Reconstruction Era National Historic Network. 

MANAGED BY:

City of North Augusta

Hamburg was a town located on the banks Savannah River on the South Carolina side across from Augusta Ga. After the Civil War, Hamburg became a majority African American Freedmen Town. In 1868, Hamburg received a new town Charter, and three newly elected African American State Representatives (John Gardner, Samuel Lee, and Prince Rivers) were residents of Hamburg. Prince Rivers was elected Intendant (Mayor) of Hamburg in 1868 and the majority of the town’s officials were Americans of African Descent. During the creation of Aiken County in 1871, three of the eight founding officers for Aiken County were African Americans who lived in Hamburg. On July 8, 1876 the “Hamburg Massacre” led to South Carolina’s “Red Shirt Movement” and “Straight-out” campaign that heralded the end of Reconstruction throughout most of South Carolina. In 1929, a flood forced Hamburg’s residents to move to higher ground. Residents were required to deconstruct the buildings, homes, & church and reconstruct them on the bluff above the old town. The actual structures and the people moved to what was originally called “New Hamburg” but would later become known as “Carrsville.”  

Hamburg-Carrsville African American Heritage District is a part of the Reconstruction Era National Historic Network.