Pin Point is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in Chatham County,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, United States; it is located southeast of

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

and is part of the Savannah

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally incorporated as a city or tow ...

. Pin Point is wide and long, and lies 13 feet above sea level. The town is best known as the birthplace of

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

Justice

Clarence Thomas Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to succeed Thurgood Marshall and has served since 1 ...

(June 23, 1948), and for its longstanding

Gullah The Gullah () are an African American ethnic group who predominantly live in the Lowcountry region of the U.S. states of Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and North Carolina, within the coastal plain and the Sea Islands. Their language and cultu ...

-speaking community. A rural settlement founded by freed people after the abolishment of slavery post-

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

, it was settled in the 1890s by people from nearby Ossabaw, Green, and Skidaway Islands. In 1897, they founded Sweetfield of Eden Baptist Church. In 1926, as part of a school-building initiative for African American children in the South—who at the time only had access to underfunded, segregated schools—a

Rosenwald school The Rosenwald School project built more than 5,000 schools, shops, and teacher homes in the United States primarily for the education of African-American children in the South during the early 20th century. The project was the product of the part ...

was built in the Pin Point community. The town lies on the edge of Shipyard Creek, a branch of the Moon River. The surrounding land has large oak trees and coastal marshes, as well as crab and oyster habitats. The main employer in the community was crab and oyster canning from the 1920s through 1980s. Pin Point remains a small, predominantly African American community that has a well-established

community. The Gullah people have been able to preserve many cultural connections to their origins in

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali ...

, where many of their ancestors were captured and then enslaved in the United States.

, the only English-based, Afro-Indigenous creole language in the United States, is spoken in Pin Point. It is unknown how many native speakers there are in the town, but along the Southeastern seaboard there are about 5,000 semi-speakers and 300 native speakers. Supreme Court Justice

is a native speaker of Gullah (then called Geechee). He has attributed his silence on the Supreme Court to his self-consciousness speaking in an all-white school as a teenager, where classmates made fun of him for not speaking “

standard English In an English-speaking country, Standard English (SE) is the variety of English that has undergone substantial regularisation and is associated with formal schooling, language assessment, and official print publications, such as public servic ...

.” Pin Point Heritage Museum, once the Varn and Sons Oyster and Crab Canning Factory, is devoted to the Gullah/Geechee culture and community.

References

External links

Pin Point Community
historical marker
Pin Point Heritage Museum
official website.]
Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words
{{authority control Populated coastal places in Georgia (U.S. state) Unincorporated communities in Chatham County, Georgia Unincorporated communities in Georgia (U.S. state) Savannah metropolitan area Populated places established by African Americans