Phillips Community

The Phillips Community was settled along Horlbeck Creek in the 1870s by freed men and women. Twenty families of formerly enslaved people from Laurel Hill, Parkers Island, and Boone Hall plantations purchased 24 lots in 8 ½ to 25-acre parcels. Later, lots were purchased to complete the Phillips Community. Original residents were middle-class farmers, tradesmen and businessmen. Their descendants still own the land. Dr. John Rutledge was the first medical doctor in Christ Church Parish who owned what became the Phillips Plantation. He was the father of Edward Rutledge, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and John Rutledge who signed the U. S. Constitution. Rutledge children were born on the Phillips Plantation. Family members may be buried nearby. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2023.