African-American Heritage Trail

African Americans have been part of American history for many centuries, with reports of free and enslaved Africans traveling to the Americas as early as the 1400s. It has been a fraught, tumultuous, and difficult history but one that also stands as testimony to the power of perseverance and the strength of the human spirit. Local African American history begins, as it does throughout the South, with slavery. Slavery was already present in Bartow County – originally Cass County – when it was chartered in 1832. Cotton and agriculture were the primary economic drivers but enslaved laborers were also used in the timber, mining, railroad, and iron industries. After emancipation, a strong African American community emerged, which worked to support and empower its members even as they collectively faced the pressures of Jim Crow laws in the segregationist South. Many of the families that established themselves in Bartow County during that time remain here today and have dedicated themselves to preserving that same legacy of community support and empowerment. What this brochure hopes to make clear, is that one cannot fully consider the history of Bartow County without understanding the history of its African American citizens. This history has been found embedded in the stories of individuals who witnessed its unfolding. It has been found in the historical record, a trail of breadcrumbs left by those who bought land, built businesses, and established themselves in spite of staggering odds. It has been found in the recollections of those who left Bartow County in search of a better life, and it has been found in struggles and achievements of those who stayed. This brochure is an effort to introduce what is known and share what has been discovered. It is not the definitive guide, but rather, a starting point for further research as the body of work on local African American history continues to grow.