As such, the land is classified as “heirs’ property,” a designation that makes it vulnerable to being sold without the family’s full consent. Because of ambiguities surrounding the land’s title, there is no primary owner of the property all of the heirs of the original owners-and there are more than 100 known heirs-are legally co-owners. The Allen family has been fighting developers who are using an arcane legal maneuver to force a sale of the family’s ancestral land.īut as the land enters its 120th year in the family, the Allens are struggling to hold on to it. Today, the Allen family owns the largest undeveloped lot on Hilton Head. The son of slaves, Dennis Allen bought his first parcel of nearly 20 acres in 1897, at a time when African Americans were purchasing land across the country. It was Dennis Allen, Matthew’s great-grandfather, who purchased the land on Hilton Head. The noise from passing cars is drowned out by bird chatter and an occasional shout from one family member to another.
Tall oak and pine trees block the sun from flowering shrubs in the sandy soil. The short street bisects a 38-acre plot and travels past some 23 trailers that house members of the Allen family. They took full advantage of the land.”Īlong Allen Road, though, an older version of Hilton Head is preserved. used to farm the land, used to grow okra, corn, sweet potatoes. “When was coming up,” he recalls, “they used to…go down to the water to fish. Matthew Allen, now in his 70s, grew up visiting this family land where his father and grandfather grew up. Listen to an interview with Leah Douglas on America’s Work Force Radio. Listen to an interview with Leah Douglas on KCRW’s Good Food.
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