By Eric Curl
July 13, 2025 – The Pin Point Betterment Association, in partnership with the Coastal Equity & Resilience (CEAR) Hub at Georgia Tech, is working to ensure emergency preparedness, disaster response and food sovereignty throughout the historic community.
The plan is described in an application submitted by a CEAR Hub representative seeking to construct a prefabricated shed and freestanding sign for a community garden on vacant land donated by the owner.
The proposed shed going before the Chatham County Historic Preservation Commision on Wednesday will house emergency supplies for community use in the wake of a disaster, generators, first aid kits, safety equipment and gardening tools for the John Anderson, Sr. Pin Point Community Garden, according to the application. The garden is expected to provide fresh produce to the community and be used for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) educational programming.
“During disasters, Pin Point residents experience challenges such as flooding, power outages, downed trees that hinder community ingress and egress, and difficulty accessing fresh food and drinking water …,” the application states. “The community’s goal is to have a network of trusted, accessible sites to serve as distribution points for emergency supplies and information from local officials, as wells as for charging devices, refrigerating medicine and accessing fresh food and water.”
The review board’s staff is recommending approval of the project. More information and the full agenda can be found at Chatham County Historic Preservation Commission meeting July 16 – Savannah Agenda.
About Pin Point
Pin Point was settled in 1896 by former slaves from Ossabaw, Green, and Skidaway Islands. Sweetfield of Eden Baptist Church, founded in Pin Point in 1897, was a successor to Ossabaw’s Hinder Me Not Church and also served as the community’s school until a Rosenwald School opened in 1926. Construction of the Pin Point Hall followed, and it remains a focal point of the community. Pin Point was the site of several coastal industries, including shrimping, crabbing and oyster harvesting operations.
The community is now home to the Pin Point Heritage Museum, in the former A.S. Varn & Son Oyster and Crab Factory, close to Moon River Marsh and east of Savannah. Museum guests can discover coastal Georgia’s rich Gullah-Geechee culture and develop an understanding of the historical experience of growing up in the community.
Sources: Georgia Historical Society and Coastal Heritage Society
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13 feet elevation at that lot. Is that a good idea to keep generators there?
If we’re talking about resilience, I think the community needs to plan to ward off vulture capitalists after a storm surge. Palisaides fire in California could be the example.