Before World War II Harris Neck, Georgia was a small community of former slaves and their families who fished and lived off their very rural property. After Pearl Harbor, the government took the land from the residents of Harris Neck for a wartime airfield. They were paid fair market value according to the government, but the descendants claim they were also given a promise that their land would be returned. There is no record of that promise. After the war, instead of returning the land, the government turned it into Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge in 1962. The 2800 acre park has become a nesting place for more than 300 bird species, including the endangered wood stork. The former residents are petitioning Congress to get their land back. Click here to read more about Harris Neck. Watch the video below to see and hear more about the controversy.
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