AROUND TOWN
Preserving a Legacy A new heritage trail highlights important sites of African-American history in Pender County. BY CHRIS G. LAYT Poplar Grove Plantation
PHOTO COURTESY OF POPLAR GROVE PLANTATION
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Pender County Tourism launched its African American Heritage Trail on an auspicious day in 2021: Juneteenth, the day of celebration that commemorates the end of slavery. The tourism department developed the trail to help educate the public and retain the history of Black residents dating back to the Revolutionary War. The tourism department had the help of dozens of African-American descendants, residents and historians, who gathered documents and stories to help tell the history of their forebears whose lives enriched Pender County.
“This project could not have been accomplished without the help of 23 local historians and families who want to preserve the history and legacy of African Americans in Pender County,” says Tammy Proctor, Pender County Tourism director. The African American Heritage Trail (AAHT) is a driving tour that opened with nine sites of interest: Missiles and More Museum, Sloop Point Elementary School, Manhollow Missionary Baptist Church, Poplar Grove Plantation, N.C. Mountains to Sea Trail, Macedonia AME Church, Pender County Courthouse, Old Stage Road and Canetuck Rosenwald School. Fall 2021
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