SAVANNAH — Local advocates are trying to ensure the memory of the sale of more than 400 enslaved Africans in Savannah over two rain-soaked days is not forgotten.
On March 2 and 3, 1859, at the Ten Broeck Race Course on the city’s outskirts, Pierce Butler sold men, women and children to settle gambling debts and maintain his family’s wealth. Known as “The Weeping Time,” it is one of the largest auctions of enslaved people in American history.
Families stood in cold rain while bidders examined them. Infants were priced. Mothers were jeered. A reporter who witnessed the auction described babies’ “esteemed worth to the master a hundred dollars the day they are born.” When it was over, $303,850 had changed hands.
The people were scattered across the South. They would never be together again.
Now, as the land potentially changes hands again, a question lingers: What, if anything, will mark what happened there?
Today, much of that former race course is industrial land, a former lumber yard, at 204 West Old Lathrop Avenue. A vacant office building at the site was destroyed by fire in May 2025; the cause was undetermined. The 30-plus acre property has sat largely unused since Dixie Plywood sold it in December 2022 for more than $30 million to Tennessee-based IMC Logistics.
The property was listed for sale in August 2025 as a prime industrial redevelopment opportunity, complete with conceptual plans for warehouses and container storage. The listing was later taken offline, after news spread of the property’s availability. The property owner’s spokesperson said the company did not wish to comment for this article.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Savannah Alderwoman Bernetta Lanier, who represents the area, has been publicly calling for the city to act, even if that means acquiring the property via eminent domain.
“I have a responsibility as the alderwoman of the area, number one, and as an heir from the Butlers,” said Lanier, noting her great-grandmother was Cordia Butler and that her family has lived in West Savannah for many generations.
The Weeping Time was believed for years to be the largest auction of Black slaves, with an estimated 436 people sold. Recent research uncovered an even larger sale of 600 slaves in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1835.
Lanier described the Georgia site as a “national historic asset” and said the moment represents a “once in a lifetime” opportunity.
The property sits at the geographic and symbolic heart of greater West Savannah, where the Woodville, Hudson Hill and West Savannah neighborhoods meet, Lanier said.
“We are vested people in the area,” she said. “Now we want an opportunity to reclaim this sacred place, this sacred history for public good.”
State lawmakers have heard the call.
Weeping Time authority created in 2024
In 2024, the Georgia General Assembly passed House Bill 1425, creating the Weeping Time Cultural Heritage Corridor Authority.
The authority is charged with promoting and providing community and educational resources related to the Weeping Time, Gullah Geechee culture and history and the journey of African Americans from slavery to freedom along Georgia’s coast. It may acquire property, contract with public and private entities, and manage projects, but it does not have the power of eminent domain, cannot issue bonds and cannot incur debt.
The authority consists of five members appointed by state legislators representing Chatham County, serving two-year terms. The board reflects a mix of community advocates, artists and longtime Savannah residents.
The authority’s chairman, Rev. Leonard Small, is a long-serving Savannah-based pastor who has been active in civil rights and community activism for decades. Small, as head of The Weeping Time Coalition, a predecessor to the authority, also led opposition efforts in recent years to the Salvation Army’s plan to build a transitional housing homeless shelter next to the site where the Weeping Time tragedy took place.
The authority’s members have floated concepts such as a park or place of spiritual contemplation, historic interpretation and educational programming. But Small has cautioned members and supporters against publicly debating development ideas before securing land.
“There’s no such thing as planning development prior to owning some land,” he said. “You put the cart ahead of the horse.”
The group’s first priority is securing some form of agreement with the property owner, Small said.
“If we had an agreement and a price, I believe we could raise the money,” he said.
They have also reached out to city officials to assist them in the effort.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Savannah mayor sees ‘great opportunity’
Savannah Mayor Van Johnson says the city recognizes the rare opportunity.
“This provides a great opportunity for us we have not had before,” Johnson said.
For years, the slave sale has been marked not at the site itself, but by a historical marker installed in 2007 in a tiny park about half a mile away.
Ideally, Johnson said, “we’d like to memorialize the actual site or as close to the site as we can get.”
Johnson said the city believes the critical area is the former grandstand location and not necessarily the entire footprint of the historic race track — portions of which are now occupied by I-516 and Brock Elementary School.
But costs loom large.
“Do we have $30 million or so to acquire the site?” Johnson asked. Beyond acquisition, remediation of the industrial property would likely be required.
“I’m required to have a balanced approach,” he said, noting residents’ calls for tax relief and other priorities.
A nonprofit, OCEANS Inc., has expressed interest in the property. The organization aims to establish a Weeping Time memorial and national memorial at the site to commemorate all who were enslaved in the United States.
Kwesi J. DeGraft-Hanson, a landscape architect and founder of OCEANS, described the Weeping Time site as sacred ground, arguing that the trauma endured there makes it comparable to other nationally protected historic sites. The nonprofit’s broader vision includes a memorial campus with a museum, genealogy research center, reconciliation programming, artist residencies and public gathering space, including an amphitheater. He said the current property owner agreed last year to pull the listing for roughly five months to give supporters time to try to raise funds.
“There’s blood, there’s tears, and there’s sweat in that soil. There’s spirit in that soil,” he said, adding that acquiring the roughly $35 million property would require broad public participation and support. “What’s in your hand? If 35 million people gave $1, that’s $35 million.”
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Johnson has heard of the various groups’ plans and visions for the site.
“They are great plans, great ideas, but no money,” he said. “Ultimately that’s the deciding factor for all of this to happen.”
Johnson confirmed the city has been in contact with the owners and they have been “gracious” in allowing time to explore local acquisition, though he acknowledged it is costly for the owners to let the property sit unused.
“At some point they would have to do something,” he said.
Eminent domain remains a theoretical option, he said, but the city would still have to pay fair market value.
Lanier said that if there is political will, creative financing could follow, including potential state involvement, public-private partnerships and leveraging other city assets.
City would review needed infrastructure
In a Jan. 9 letter to the Weeping Time Cultural Heritage Corridor Authority, City Manager Jay Melder said the city recognizes the profound historical and cultural significance of the 1859 sale.
Melder outlined a process for potentially transferring a portion of the Stratford Street right-of-way along the property at the authority’s request, noting the authority would first need to acquire or control adjacent property and formally petition the mayor and aldermen.
City staff would then review infrastructure concerns, including existing water and stormwater lines and emergency access, before the request could be scheduled for City Council consideration. Melder wrote that he does not see major administrative barriers.
“The event and the site on which it occurred are vital parts of our community’s heritage and must be commemorated appropriately,” Melder said.
This year’s AJC Black History Month series marks the 100th anniversary of the national observance of Black history and the 11th year the project has examined the role African Americans played in building Atlanta and shaping American culture. New installments will appear daily throughout February on ajc.com and uatl.com, as well as at ajc.com/news/atlanta-black-history.
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