SPARTA, Ga. — In 1850, Andrew Benjamin Tarbutton enslaved 25 people in central Georgia. A year later, he purchased more than a dozen additional people off the docks in Savannah and marched them toward his home, setting the foundation for his family’s generational wealth. Four generations later, a railroad company owned by one of his […]
Eminent Domain
Posted inEconomic Development, Eminent Domain
Mississippi Residents Say City Quietly Marked Their Homes for Takeover
Greg Gipson walked out of a federal appeals court in Louisiana last week feeling a bit more hopeful about a case that was dismissed in Mississippi over his historic neighborhood’s designation. Gipson and other residents drove 93 miles from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, to New Orleans to persuade a panel of federal judges to reconsider whether their […]
Posted inEminent Domain, Rural Issues
This Black Family Won’t Back Down After Court Allows Railroad to Take Their Land
Blaine and Diane Smith were hurt but unsurprised when a Georgia superior court judge ruled last week that a railroad company could seize their land, despite their refusal to sell. For nearly two years, they have been fighting to stop Sandersville Railroad Co., a 130-year-old, white-owned business, from building a 4.5-mile rail spur through a […]
Posted inEminent Domain, Rural Issues
In 11 Minutes, These Black Landowners Lost Their Property to a Railroad
Landowners in a predominantly Black town in rural Georgia who have been fighting to keep their properties from falling into the hands of a railroad company were dealt another blow on Wednesday when a state regulatory authority ruled in favor of the railroad. During a Wednesday session, the Georgia Public Service Commission unanimously approved Sandersville […]
Posted inEminent Domain, Infrastructure, Partner Content
Black Women Say An Amtrak Project Threatens Their Baltimore Neighborhood’s Homes — and Children
Originally published by The 19th Angel St. Jean has seen big improvements to the Reservoir Hill neighborhood of Baltimore since she moved there 11 years ago. The historic, now majority-Black community had long been considered “perpetually up and coming,” she said, and parts of it had been underdeveloped for some time. In recent years, however, […]
Posted inEminent Domain, Money, Rural Issues
Rural Georgia Community Keeps Fighting Despite Railroad’s Win to Take Their Land
After a year-long legal battle with a railroad company over their land, landowners in a rural, majority-Black town in Georgia may be forced to sell their homes. In an initial decision on Monday, a Georgia Public Service Commission officer approved a proposed rail spur in Sparta. Several property owners had refused to sell the land […]
Posted inEminent Domain, Rural Issues
A Year After Attempted Land Grab, Hilton Head Elder’s Case Is Settled
Until her last breath, 94-year-old Josephine Wright fought tirelessly to protect her family’s land from developers. Two months after her passing, the battle is over. The lawsuit filed against Wright has reached a settlement, according to a report from South Carolina Public Radio. Altimese Nichole, a family spokesperson, said the settlement requires developer Bailey Point […]
Posted inEminent Domain, Rural Issues
Why This Rural Community Is at War With a 130-Year Railroad Company
SPARTA, Ga. — On a muggy and humid afternoon in mid-September, a frustrated Mark Smith stands in the kitchen of the home he and his wife, Janet Smith, built over 30 years ago on the 600 acres his grandfather acquired in 1926. Just a few feet away, the home where Mark grew up still stands. […]
Posted inEminent Domain, Rural Issues
Resources for Black Families Fighting for Control of Their Land
Josephine Wright can finally enjoy a bit of good news after eight months of fighting in court over her land in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. While the dispute isn’t over, the 93-year-old is getting a newly built, five-bedroom home on her property. For more than 30 years, Wright has lived on the land, which […]
Posted inEminent Domain, Rural Issues
Years of Water Woes Could Cost Alabama Residents Their Homes
PRICHARD, Ala. — On a hot afternoon in September, Angela Robinson Adams walked to her backyard, where the recent rain showers created “her own swimming pool.” Adams’ yard rarely floods, but the streets in her Alabama Village neighborhood often do. She had little water pressure in her home, so she called the Prichard Water Works […]