Georgia's dwindling Geechee community

Gibb Walker returns a fish to the water while fishing off a dock on Sapelo Island, Ga., May 14, 2013.

Roughly 47 residents, most of them descendants of West African slaves known as Geechee, remain on Sapelo Island, the coastal Georgia island where their ancestors were brought to work a plantation in the early 1800s.

Isolated over time to the Southeast's barrier islands, the Geechee of Georgia and Florida, otherwise known as Gullah in the Carolinas, have retained their African traditions more than other African-American communities in the U.S. Once freed, the slaves were able to acquire land and created settlements on the island, of which only the tiny 464-acre Hog Hammock community still exists.

Residents say a sudden tax hike, lack of jobs, and development is endangering one of the last remaining Geechee communities from Florida to North Carolina.

Lula Walker, 65, right, owner of Lula's Kitchen, is helped by her granddaughter Stephanie Grovner, 21, while cleaning up after serving lunch to a tour group in the only restaurant in the Hog Hammock community of Sapelo Island, May 15, 2013.

"People not going to be able to hang on to their property," says Walker. "The people don't make that kind of money on this island."

Rev. Dr. Robert Brown, 89, left, and Eddie Wilson, 65, ride a ferry from the mainland to attend a church service for the 129th anniversary of St. Luke Baptist Church on Sapelo Island, June 9, 2013.

A parishioner exits a church service for the 129th anniversary of St. Luke Baptist Church on Sapelo Island, June 9, 2013.

Ire Gene Grovner walks through remnants of the old slave's quarters at the Chocolate Plantation where his ancestors lived some eight generations ago on Sapelo Island, Ga., May 16, 2013.

Grovner is one of roughly 47 residents, most of them descendants of West African slaves known as Geechee, who remain on Sapelo Island.

Stephen Wilson, 68, walks through the forest on his property where his home that his father built stands in the Hog Hammock community of Sapelo Island, Ga., May 15, 2013.

"Dad built this house with his labor. Every time I put the key in the door coming home as a child, I remember saying, 'Hi, papa. Hi, mama.' It has a lot of remembrance."

Jonathan Wilson, 6, plays in a cart in the backyard of his home on Sapelo Island, Ga. on Sunday, June 9, 2013.

Eddie Wilson, 65, puts on his glasses while riding the ferry from the mainland to attend a church service for the 129th anniversary of St. Luke Baptist Church on Sapelo Island, June 9, 2013.

J.J. Wilson, 9, rides a school bus to catch a ferry to the his school on the mainland from his home in the Hog Hammock community of Sapelo Island, May 15, 2013. Eight children catch a ferry in the morning to attend school on the mainland since the last school operating on the island closed in 1978.

Marvin Grovner, 16, plays with a basketball after returning home to the Hog Hammock community from school on the mainland, May 15, 2013.

Kyle Alexander, 20, cleans up the yard while working on the construction site of a new vacation home being built for a couple from the Northeast, in the Hog Hammock community of Sapelo Island, May 16, 2013.

Cathleen Hillery, 92, the oldest resident of Sapelo Island, Ga. leaves a church service with her great granddaughter Milaika Ellison, for the 129th anniversary of St. Luke Baptist Church on the island, June 9, 2013.

Mary Bailey, left, puts a handkerchief in the suit pocket of her cousin, Marvin Grovner, 16, as they attend a church service for the 129th anniversary of St. Luke Baptist Church on Sapelo Island, June 9, 2013. Grovner is one of 47 residents who remain on Sapelo Island.

Donna Smith, a resident from the mainland who came over by ferry to attend the 129th anniversary of St. Luke Baptist Church, sings during the church's service on Sapelo Island, June 9, 2013.

Kyle Alexander, 20, steps out while working at the Graball County Store, the only convenience store and one of the few businesses in the Hog Hammock community of Sapelo Island, May 15, 2013.

A bull crosses the main road, known as the "Autobahn," on Sapelo Island, May 16, 2013.

Marvin Grovner, 16, plays with a basketball after returning home to the Hog Hammock community from school on the mainland, May 15, 2013.

Richard Dixon, 70, center, on a visit to his native Sapelo Island from Los Angeles, sits with Sapelo residents Julius Bailey, left, and Herman Dixon, right, after a church service, June 9, 2013.

"Everyone feels like family here," says Richard Dixon, "I'll fight along with everyone else because this will always be my home."

A utility pole stands in a marsh at sunset on Sapelo Island, May 16, 2013.

Stephen Wilson, 68, walks onto the front porch of his home, built by his father, in the Hog Hammock community, May 15, 2013.

"Dad built this house with his labor. Every time I put the key in the door, I remember coming home as a child saying, 'Hi, papa. Hi, mama.' It has a lot of remembrance."

Annie Watts, center, waits with fellow passengers to board a ferry from the mainland to attend a church service for the 129th anniversary of St. Luke Baptist Church on Sapelo Island, June 9, 2013.

Jonathan Wilson, 6, stands on the dock before boarding a ferry from his home in the Hog Hammock community to the mainland to attend school, May 15, 2013.

Annie Watts, 74, left, and Stephen Wilson, 68, talk after a church service for the 129th anniversary of St. Luke Baptist Church on Sapelo Island, June 9, 2013.

Sapelo Island resident Lula Walker, 65, owner of Lula's Kitchen, rests after serving lunch to a tour group as her granddaughter Stephanie Grovner, 21, helps in the kitchen in the only restaurant in the Hog Hammock community, May 15, 2013.

A sticker celebrating Geechee heritage is seen on a pickup truck as passengers board a ferry to the mainland on Sapelo Island, June 9, 2013.

Kyle Alexander, 20, left, plays cards with Kent Grovner, right, and fellow residents in The Trough, the only bar in the Hog Hammock community, May 16, 2013.

Sapelo Island resident Kent Grovner fishes off a dock, May 15, 2013.