EDITOR’S NOTE: Over the coming weeks, News13 will celebrate Black History Month through a series of stories highlighting the accomplishments of black people and educating the public about the struggles and triumphs faced by African Americans. have faced for centuries.
ATLANTIC BEACH, SC (WBTW) – The small town of Atlantic Beach was established in the 1930s as a beachfront community for the Gullah Geechee, descendants of slaves, who were denied access to beaches along the South Carolina coast because of their race.
From the 1930s through the 1970s, Atlantic Beach — dubbed the “Black Pearl” — was a mecca for black people and one of the most popular resorts for minorities from Virginia to Florida. Despite devastating hurricanes, the town is moving forward and community leaders are ensuring its history is preserved.
“It was a thriving, thriving community,” said former mayor and historian Irene Evans-Armstrong. ” It’s my house. I’ve seen the good, the bad, the ugly.
Atlantic Beach covers just over 96 acres spread over four blocks – 28th Avenue North to 31st Avenue North – and comes from humble beginnings.
Black North Carolina man George Tyson acquired Atlantic Beach land in the 1930s from the Spiveys, a family who would bring their maids and butlers to the secluded wooded beachfront on their days off . It was the only place slaves on the South Carolina coast could vacation.
“If African Americans couldn’t vacation and visit other beachfronts in the state of South Carolina and Georgia, Florida, even Virginia, because they weren’t allowed to ‘walking into those beaches, you can imagine what it was like in Atlantic Beach,’” Evans-Armstrong said.
Eventually, Tyson ran into financial trouble and had to mortgage the Pearl Beach and Atlantic Beach sections. Evans-Armstrong said the Atlantic Beach Company was then formed. It was made up of 10 black shareholders to save the earth.
“They all sold to like-minded people who were doctors, lawyers and educators,” Evans-Armstrong said.
The second and third generations of these families are the current owners of properties in Atlantic Beach. Former Councilman John Sketers’ father owned property on Atlantic Beach more than 50 years ago.
“We used to travel from Wilmington, NC to Atlantic Beach during the summer to operate Sketers place,” Sketers said.
Sketers Place served as a restaurant and hotel, and Sketers said the family atmosphere transcended the city.
“We reinvested money there, and I remember when Atlantic Beach was just one big family of investors who came here,” Sketers said.
Black people enjoyed great food and live music during the Jim Crow era on Atlantic Beach. Evans-Armstrong said there are Ferris wheels, amusement parks, hotels and restaurants along the four city blocks. However, in 1954 Hurricane Hazel would change that, and decades later the city was devastated by Hurricane Hugo.
“Hurricane Hugo was in the ’80s, but it wouldn’t have been so bad if business owners could have gotten insurance,” Evans-Armstrong said.
After Hurricane Hazel, white insurance companies would not insure black homeowners and businesses, and banks would not give them loans to rebuild. Today, Atlantic Beach is still struggling economically but has managed to stay afloat. It thrives on events like the Gullah Geechee Festival and the Atlantic Beach Bike Fest, started in part by Sketers and Armstrong.
“We started inviting other motorcycle groups to come to Atlantic Beach to celebrate Memorial Day weekend with us,” Sketers said.
“Atlantic Beach has a resilience unlike any other,” Evans-Armstrong pointed out.
In 1966, Atlantic Beach applied for and received a municipal charter from the state of South Carolina, making it an independent city, electing its own ruling black government. Evans-Armstrong said it remains the only “black-owned” beachfront charter town in the country.