Hog Hammock Historic District

Hog Hammock is a 427-acre African-American community on the east side of Sapelo Island, a barrier island reached mainly by boat. Its roughly 50 historic houses are small, one-story frame dwellings with gabled roofs and front porches, built by local carpenters between the 1870s and the early 1960s. They are scattered along dirt roads and grouped by family around large live oaks, following a layout that predates an 1891 plat. Community landmarks include St. Luke's Baptist Church, the two-story Farmers' Alliance Lodge Hall, a former Rosenwald school and several stores. The settlement began with land sales to freedmen in 1878 and later took in residents relocated from other island communities under R. J. Reynolds, Jr., until his death in 1964. It is the last surviving historic African-American settlement on Sapelo and preserves Gullah traditions, which is why it was listed for ethnic heritage, community planning and architecture.