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Lake City Black Community

Lake City, Williamsburg County, South Carolina · South Atlantic

Black Community within a Small Town

MassacreForced Expulsion

Categories: Racial Massacre & Mob Destruction · Forced Expulsion & Racial Cleansing

What was built

Established or development period
1865–1898
Peak period
1890s
Who built the community
Black farmers, laborers and tradespeople of Williamsburg County.
Black population
A substantial Black population in a majority-Black county.
Businesses
Not yet documented
Financial institutions
Not yet documented
Churches
Not yet documented
Schools
Not yet documented
Hospitals
Not yet documented
Newspapers
Not yet documented
Entertainment & cultural institutions
Not yet documented
Other community institutions
Frazier Baker's appointment as United States postmaster, a federal office held by a Black man.
Black land & property ownership
Black farm and home ownership scattered through the county.
Economic significance
A Black farming population in a county where Black residents outnumbered white residents.

What happened

What happened?
On February 22, 1898, a white mob burned the home and post office of Postmaster Frazier Baker, shooting at the family as they fled. Baker and his infant daughter Julia were killed; his wife and other children were wounded. The surviving family left the state.
Trigger or precipitating event
White opposition to the federal appointment of a Black postmaster.
Underlying historical context
Post-Reconstruction disenfranchisement and violent resistance to Black federal officeholding in South Carolina.
Method of destruction / displacement
Mob Violence · Arson · Lynching · Expulsion
Date or period of destruction
February 22, 1898
Confirmed / documented deaths
2 deaths: Frazier Baker and his infant daughter Julia.
Estimated deaths
Not yet documented
People displaced
The Baker family fled the state; Black residents were intimidated into silence.
Homes destroyed
The Baker home and post office.
Businesses destroyed
Not yet documented
Acres or property lost
Not yet documented

Afterward

What happened to the land?
Not yet documented
Was compensation paid?
Congress appropriated a small relief payment to the surviving family; a federal prosecution ended in a hung jury with no convictions.
Was the community rebuilt?
No
What was rebuilt?
Not yet documented
Destroyed or displaced again?
Not yet documented
Second displacement date
Not yet documented
Second displacement cause
Not yet documented
What exists there today?
The Frazier B. Baker Post Office, renamed in his honor in 2019, and a historical marker.
Descendant, reparation & restoration efforts
Descendant advocacy led to the 2019 renaming of the Lake City post office.
Historical significance
A federal-officeholder lynching that drew national attention, including from Ida B. Wells, who lobbied President McKinley for prosecution.

Sources

  • Primary record

    Library of Congress, Ida B. Wells papers and NAACP antilynching records

    Find
  • Primary record

    South Carolina Department of Archives and History

    Find
  • Primary record

    U.S. Congress, Public Law 116-59 (2019), Frazier B. Baker Post Office designation

    Find
  • Primary record

    Library of Congress, Chronicling America: 1898 newspapers

    Find

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Last verified: 2026-09-20. This is a living historical collection. Additional communities and documentation will be added as research and verification continue.