Reconstruction Era National Historical Park in Beaufort County, South Carolina, was established in January 2017 to preserve and interpret the resources and complex national stories of Reconstruction: African Americans' quest for freedom, the challenges resulting from the abolition of slavery, and the struggles to define the nation during and after the Civil War. Near the intersection of Charles Street and Bay Street, African American owned businesses once stood just a few blocks from here; those businesses vanished after Reconstruction, while the antebellum mansion in the background still stands.