Town Marshal James Cook

James Cook

Town Marshal Jim Cook was shot and killed exiting the Hamburg Town Armory during the beginning of a race riot in Hamburg.

There was a dispute over a public road, and a group of white men called the Red Shirts insisted the National Guard Armory turn in their weapons. The Red Shirts were a white supremacist group that opposed civil rights for black Americans and caused disruption during the 1876 South Carolina Elections. When the National Guard soldiers refused to give up their weapons, a shoot-out began. Marshal Cook was the first black man to be killed.

In the aftermath, 7 men were killed: one white man and six black men. Ninety-four men were indicted in the attack, but none were prosecuted. The town of Hamburg began its decline, and by 1929, all residents had left the town. Today, the town is a golf course in North Augusta, South Carolina.