Advocacy Alerts
Advocacy Alert: Historic Phillips Community Threatened
preservation-admin , August 28, 2020
 A current Charleston County proposal to widen Highway 41 in Mount Pleasant would negatively and irreparably affect the Phillips community, an intact African American settlement community founded in the late-19th century. Join the PSC in opposing the proposed Alternative 1 in favor of Alternative 7A that would relieve congestion and improve safety without adversely impacting this important, historic community. Please speak up to support the Phillips community! Submit your comments at hwy41sc.com by September 11.   As a significant cultural landscape that tells the story of formerly enslaved African Americans who joined together to purchase property and create an independent community following the Civil War, Phillips has been deemed eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, and is recognized as part of the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor. Amid intense development pressure, African American settlement communities East of the Cooper are increasingly at-risk, and so much has already been lost. Communities like Two-Mile, Four-Mile, Seven-Mile, and Eight-Mile have all been adversely impacted by the explosive growth of suburban development in Mount Pleasant, and it is time for the cycle to end. This is also another unfortunate example of an inappropriate project forging ahead in spite of challenges to public engagement, due to COVID. Stand with the PSC and tell Charleston County that preservation of the Phillips community is a top priority, and that growth should not come at the expense of invaluable cultural heritage. READ MORE ABOUT THE PROJECT • Charleston County decides on 5-lane Highway 41 through historic Phillips community • Editorial: Don’t widen SC Highway 41 through historic Phillips community • Commentary: Why would a wider road through the Phillips community be any different? • Highway 41 and the Phillips Community: ‘This Area Fits the People Who Live Here’ |