In 1866 the establishment of African Town was developed as the first town founded, developed and occupied by blacks in the United States. Now referred to as Africatown (Plateau) it is a historic community located three miles north of downtown Mobile, Alabama. Formed by a group of 32 West Africans including the historic Cudjo Lewis, who were included in the last known illegal shipment of slaves to the U.S in 1860 via the Clotilda. The group purchased the land from their former owners and other rich white people by pooling all their money together after being denied reparations and the ability to return to their home in Africa.
The Legacy Continues
The descendants of the founders now number in the thousands and carry with them the legacy, pride, distinctiveness and attachment to Africa. A sense of place through their belonging to a small town that has no equivalent in this country. The descendants are also unique African-Americans because unlike others they know who their African ancestors were, what their names were, where they came from, and for some of them, what they looked like. Some still live in the settlement that is now called Africatown. The log cabins built by their ancestors no longer exist and have been replaced by more updated houses; but the trees and bushes planted by the men and women of the Clotilda are still there, as are their graves.
In March 1984, nine descendants established the nonprofit Africatown Direct Descendants of the Clotilda, Inc. to preserve the heritage and story of the people kidnapped and brought to Alabama on the Clotilda. In February 2021, the group, along with Mobile civic leaders, broke ground on the site of the future Africatown Heritage House museum and welcome center.
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