TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. (WTOC) -A small roadside marker near the entrance to Tybee Island is the only visible acknowledgment of a site where thousands of enslaved Africans died in the 18th century — and where their bodies remain today. Island residents and advocates are now working to change that.
After Georgia lifted its ban on slavery in 1749, Savannah became part of the transatlantic slave trade. Ships carrying enslaved Africans made stops at a quarantine station along what is now Lazaretto Creek on the west end of Tybee Island before continuing to Savannah.
The station, established in the 1760s, was designed to isolate disease before ships reached the city. The word “lazaretto” means quarantine house…