Former slaves and their descendants continued to live on the island after the Civil War. According to historian Mary Bullard, one community existed in the Brick Hill area of the island between 1862–1891. Many of these freedmen were farmers. In the 1880s, another community formed at what is now called "The Settlement". It was a residential area for black workers, as Georgia had passed laws requiring racial segregation of housing and public facilities. The First African Baptist Church, established in The Settlement in 1893, was rebuilt in the 1930s. It is one of the few remaining structures of this community.