Union Town

Union Town. Creating a New Community. You are looking at the site of 'Union Town,' a bustling community established after the U.S. Army occupied Suffolk in 1862. In the months that followed thousands of formerly enslaved people self-emancipated and gathered here to craft a new life. Initially classified as "Contraband of War," by the Union Army, these residents constructed earthworks, worked as teamsters, and assisted with other tasks to support the war effort., Sheltered at first in tents, the inhabitants soon erected clapboard huts that housed more than 2,000 people. This community was laid out with streets, schools and a church, all constructed "from pine and other growths of timber in the surroundings." After the Emancipation Proclamation authorized the enlistment of Black troops in January 1863, many men joined United States Colored Troops regiments. When Union troops left Suffolk six months later, the inhabitants of Union Town moved on with the army., "I traveled 65 miles and we had 52 in our number. Before we crost the river we could hear the pickets [swords] strike the stirrup and we taught we would be taken any moment... we reached Suffolk that night and we lost twenty one of the Number." -Testimony from Union Town resident, (captions) , Contraband camp, "Slabtown," Hampton, Dec. 1864 Courtesy Library of Congress , Teamsters, Bermuda Hundred, 1864 Courtesy Library of Congress , Detail, E.A. Curtis map of Suffolk, showing "Contraband Camp" Courtesy Suffolk Historical Society