An enclave of slave descendants on the Georgia coast have settled a federal lawsuit that claimed a lack of government services was eroding their island community, one of the few remaining Gullah-Geechee settlements on the Southeast U.S. coast.
The agreement states residents of the tiny Hogg Hummock community on Sapelo Island will receive improved emergency services and road maintenance from McIntosh County while some residents’ property tax assessments will be frozen through 2025.
Island residents and land owners battled the county in U.S. District Court for nearly seven years before a deal was reached. A judge closed the civil case July 20, a few days before it was scheduled to go to trial.
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