Proposed Combahee Ferry Historic District

Conservation of Historical Resources

PROPOSED COMBAHEE FERRY HISTORIC DISTRICT

The Combahee Ferry historic site is located on U. S. 17 along the Combahee River adjacent to the new Harriet Tubman Bridge.  It consists of an eighteenth and nineteenth century archaeological site including at least two building foundations and associated archaeological deposits, the site of Revolutionary War actions, the remains of Confederate earthworks from the Civil War, and the remains of the old Combahee Ferry.  This site will eventually be part of the National Park Service’s Gullah-Geechee Corridor established through a Congressional Act passed in 2006.

Perhaps the most notable event in the history of the site was a Union army raid in the late spring of 1863 led by famed Underground Railroad organizer Harriet Tubman.  This raid led to the capture of the area, the destruction of the Confederate pontoon bridge across the Combahee River, and the freeing of as many as 800 slaves from nearby plantations.

The Combahee Ferry site is also part of a larger proposed National Register of Historic Places Historic District including the nearby Confederate earthworks, a historic African American cemetery, a submerged wooden vessel thought to be part of a Confederate pontoon, and a number of historic rice fields.  To mitigate adverse effects to the site, SCDOT is proposing historic research and data recovery excavations; documentation, photographic recordation, and mapping for Confederate earthworks; public outreach through written publications; on-site signage such as historical markers and kiosks; and, historical exhibits at local museums, libraries, and schools.