Tybee Island in Chatham County, Georgia — The American South (South Atlantic)

Alger Avenue Neighborhood

Tybee Island Black History Trail

Photographed by Brandon D Cross

1. Alger Avenue Neighborhood Marker

Inscription. The Alger Avenue neighborhood was a small community of Tybee Black residents. The buildings were simple and efficient cinder block homes with hipped roofs. Some, but not all of Alger's residents and places have been documented. Most of this neighborhood has been lost to new construction in the past twenty years. Below is the limited information that we have to date about the people and businesses in the area.

• Bertha Tattnall was married to Edward "Bones" Tattnall, and Bones would shrimp and collect oysters on the Back River, while Bertha would pick crabs, clean fish, and sell soft drinks to customers who rented her husband's bateaux.

• Litway Baptist Church was established by the community and was an offshoot of Litway Baptist Church in Savannah.

• Johnny's Place was a nightclub that had two small tables outside, but was eventually turned into housing.

• Viola Whatley, born in 1903, lived with her husband Greely Whatley. They had a beautiful yard with flowers, a fig tree, and chickens. Viola worked at Fort Screven as a teenager and into her young adult life.

(caption) Alger Avenue as it looked in 2006 Source Google 2002

Erected 2024

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by Tybee MLK Human Rights Organization. (Marker Number Stop 3.)

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: African Americans.

Location. 32° 1.258′ N, 80° 50.863′ W. Marker is on Tybee Island, Georgia, in Chatham County. It is at the intersection of Alger Avenue and Van Horne Avenue, on the right when traveling west on Alger Avenue. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1 Alger Avenue, Tybee Island GA 31328, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Georgia’s Coastal Plain, on the Georgia Coast and the Golden Isles,

in Greater Savannah,

and on the Sea Islands.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Deep South,

and on the Eastern Seaboard. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At

Alger Avenue Neighborhood Marker (left) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Brandon D Cross

2. Alger Avenue Neighborhood Marker (left)

least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: The Brown Contracting and Cement Factory (here, next to this marker); Brigadier General James Screven (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Fort Screven Bakery - 1914 (about 500 feet away); Fort Screven Bakery (about 700 feet away); T.J. Carter/Jeff Williams (about 800 feet away); Annie Dickerson/James “Jim” Jones (about 800 feet away); The Gilyard Hutment (about 800 feet away); Louis Green and Joseph Sanders/John Curry (about 800 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Tybee Island.

Also see . . . Tybee Black History Trail markers dedicated. ‘We’re learning about the people who lived here’. (Submitted on July 20, 2024, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida.)

Credits. This page was last revised on July 21, 2024. It was originally submitted on July 20, 2024, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida. This page has been viewed 350 times since then and 26 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on July 20, 2024, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.