The Grand Army of the Republic Hall in Beaufort, South Carolina, was recently restored and was rededicated several weeks ago. The hall is located at 706 New Castle Ave. in Beaufort. The hall was a main gathering point for Union Civil War Veterans living in the coastal region. Beaufort County supplied the $115,000 that paid for the restoration. The Grand Army of the Republic was founded in 1866, right after the Civil War. It was one of the few national organizations that had both Black and white members.
Second Founding of America, a non-profit organization, worked with the county and the National Park Service’s Reconstruction Era National Historical Park to plan and complete the work.
According to local news sources:
“Reconstruction is such an important piece of history because it’s really the only time this country has ever really approached the promises of equality and justice,” [Beaufort Mayor] Keyserling said….
A Black GAR post was formed in Beaufort in 1888. Called David Hunter Post Number 9, this post included many veterans who were formerly enslaved on nearby Sea Island cotton plantations. Robert Smalls was counted among the members of Post Number 9 and served as the post commander for time.
As veterans of the Civil War died off, the GAR was dissolved and ownership of the Grand Army of the Republic Hall was transferred to the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War and the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War in 1939.
Over the years, the hall has been used as a meeting place, a dance studio, a daycare center and a church. In 1940, Zora Neale Hurston, a central figure in the Harlem Renaissance, used the hall as a studio for her documentary, “The Commandment Keeper Church.”
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It is wonderful they saved this building
What a great gift for future generations.