Six years after restoration work started, officials held a dedication ceremony in march in Navassa for Reaves Chapel – one of the oldest African American buildings in Southeastern North Carolina.

The Civil War-era church was built along the banks of the Cape Fear River by people who had formerly been slaves at Cedar Hill Plantation. They, along with former slaves from neighboring rice plantations, made up the congregation.

The building moved to its current spot on Cedar Hill Road where it served as an AME church for years but later fell into disrepair.

Alfonso Beatty, president of the Cedar Hill/West Bank Heritage Foundation, who died earlier this year,  spearheaded the project and worked with the Coastal Land Trust to utilize grant money to buy the church in 2019 and start the restoration.

As part of that work, the church, which had to be stabilized, saw the return of its original walls and floors, as well as its original stained-glass windows. Officials now want to make the building a historic site.