Scanlonville: The Land and The Community

Scanlonville is a quiet marsh-front community located on the corner of Seventh Avenue and Mathis Ferry Road. Established after the Civil War, this African-American community enjoys a rich heritage spanning over 100 years. After the war, many former slaves began to establish their own farms and businesses. The development of Scanlonville is one such enterprise. In 1868, after the death of Paul D Remley, freedman-carpenter John Scanlon purchased the 614-acres of the former Remley Plantation at auction for $6,100.00; that was bordered by the Charleston Harbor and the Wando River.

 

John Scanlon founded the Charleston Land Company offering $10 shares to 100 African-American men to purchase large tracts of land. The tract was subdivided into a planned community with lots, numbered streets, avenues, and common areas such as a graveyard, park and a wharf called Remley's Point. The land was divided into two-acre farm lots and half-acre town lots. By 1870, freed slaves who desired to own land could purchase town or farm lots. The Charleston Land Company and the development of Scanlonville is one of four known cooperative ventures between African-American freedmen.

 

Just west of Scanlonville was Riverside Beach, the oldest, largest, and most popular of five African-American beaches in Charleston County. Riverside Beach was a no-sand beach along the Wando River that officially opened in 1930, and featured a dance pavilion, athletics field, bathhouse, playground, and a boardwalk. Riverside Pavilion was the only venue where Black Charlestonians could see musical legends like Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, B.B. King and Ivory Joe Hunter. Music performances at the Pavilion spawned Juke Joints or Night Clubs in Scanlonville and eventually a hotel called White’s Paradise, frequented by James Brown. The Scanlonville community housed many places for its land owners to socialize, shop, learn and do business. Riverside Beach was one of the more notable establishments of the community in addition to a School House, Baseball Park, Ruke's Fruit Stand, Jim Snipe (Plue) Grocery/Club, Chitter Chatter, Tippin In Motel, Starlight Lounge, The Flamingo, and Hunk Store. The community was anchored by its churches, which served as spiritual, social and cultural centers for the community. The three churches, Good Shepherd Holiness Church, Atonement Episcopal Church, and Holy Trinity AME Church played and continues to play a pivotal role in preserving the heritage and fostering the unity of its residents. Today, Atonement Episcopal Church and Holy Trinity AME Church continues to be not only places of worship but also key institutions that preserve the community's rich heritage and ensure its legacy for future generations. In 1975, Charleston County assumed operations of Riverside Beach after the original owner died. Eventually the property was sold to a company that developed a gated community. 

 

Remley Point Cemetery, also known as Scanlonville Cemetery, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. This African-American cemetery is located on private property owned by the community, East Cooper Civic Club. A portion of the grounds pre-dates the freedmen community, and currently continues to be the resting place of descendants of Scanlonville's first families named Coleman, Small, Drayton, Bailey, Brown, Fordham, Simmons, Webster, and Rivers.