Grand Army of the Republic Hall

Front inscription

This building was built ca. 1896 by the David Hunter Post No. 9, Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.). The G.A.R., founded in 1866, was a fraternal society for veterans of the Union army and navy, with white and black posts. David Hunter Post was founded in 1888 by African-American veterans, many of them former slaves on Sea Island plantations who had been soldiers in the United States Colored Troops in the Civil War.

Reverse inscription

The post was named for Gen. David Hunter (1802-1886), who had organized the nucleus of the 1st S.C. Volunteers (Colored) in 1862. Robert Smalls (1839-1915), Civil War hero, state legislator, militia general, and U.S. Congressman, was a post officer. The post hosted annual Decoration Day services at Beaufort National Cemetery and the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War continue that tradition.