This building was built about 1896 by the David Hunter Post No. 9 of the Grand Army of the Republic, a fraternal society founded in 1866 for veterans of the Union army and navy, with white and black posts. David Hunter Post was founded in 1888 by African-American veterans, many of them former slaves on Sea Island plantations who had served in the United States Colored Troops during the Civil War. The post was named for Gen. David Hunter, who organized the nucleus of the 1st S.C. Volunteers (Colored) in 1862. Robert Smalls, Civil War hero, state legislator, militia general, and U.S. Congressman, served as a post officer. The post hosted annual Decoration Day services at Beaufort National Cemetery, and the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War continue that tradition.