Town of Atlantic Beach

Nicknamed The Black Pearl, the rich culture of the Town of Atlantic Beach was formed of mostly Gullah/Geechee people, descendants of slaves who lived for 300 years on the Sea Islands from Wilmington, North Carolina to Jacksonville, Florida. In the early 1930’s, defying Jim Crow laws in the segregated south, debunking black stereotypes, and broadening the enterprises of the Gullah/Geechee people, black men and women opened hotels, restaurants, night clubs, and novelty shops in Atlantic Beach. They would travel along Interstate 95, Highway 17 and South Carolina Highway 9, coming from North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia to Florida, where racial segregation took its toll.