The Camilla-Zack community, which was first known as Springfield, and later the Log Cabin community, for the structure documented in this post, was an historic Black community established by Zacharias (Zack) Hubert (1845-1926) in the 1870s.

Hubert was born enslaved in Warren County on the plantation of the French Huguenot immigrant family of Benjamin B. Hubert (1720-1794). Zack’s father, Paul, also born on the Hubert plantation, served as its foreman and memorized passages from Bible without knowing how to read or write. Hiram Hubert encouraged him to preach, even though Georgia law prevented it, and he was “allowed” to marry Jincy, a house slave, in 1832. To their union were born eleven children, including Zack. Zack was the constant companion of Henry Clay Hubert (1842-1930) on the plantation, and despite Georgia laws, was encouraged by his enslaver to read and write.

After the Civil War, the newly freed Hubert slaves rented land near the Hubert plantation, but upon the death of their father in 1868, sought to move away to new land. In 1869, Zach rented a 20-acre farm near Powelton, in Hancock County, and soon found a lawyer in Sparta named Henry Burt who was willing to sell land to anyone, including freedmen. The land was characterized by stumps and rock, but soon Zach, and two of his brothers, David and Floyd, made an agreement with Burt and purchased 165 acres of land at $10/acre, to be paid in 3 years. The brothers vastly improved the land and the debt was paid in full, but Burt rescinded his offer of a full title after the agreed-upon three year contract. The Huberts were undaunted.

They continued to pay rent on land they had already paid for and soon found a White lawyer, Poulton Thomas of Crawfordville, who encouraged Henry Burt to honor his agreement with the Hubert brothers. After some legal wrangling, including threats of breach of contract, Burt capitulated and in 1876 the Hubert brothers became the first African-American landowners in Hancock County, and possibly in the entire region. During this time, in 1873, Zack met and married Camilla Hillman (1858-1925). They had twelve children, two of whom became college presidents. Zack was the de facto leader of this growing community, establishing a church and school.

The Camilla-Zack Country Life Center, as it was originally known, was the focal point of the community, symbolically and literally. It was built by the Hubert sons.

Benjamin Franklin Hubert (1884-1958) established the Association for Advancement of Negro Country Life in 1929 and the Center was a culmination of his vision. He became president of the Georgia State Industrial College [now Savannah State] and served in that capacity until his retirement in 1945.

550 pine logs taken from the surrounding forest and 150 tons of local granite were used in the construction of the Center. Including the porches, the building contains over 2500 square feet of usable space.

The rooms are trimmed with pine and the ceilings feature exposed timbers. The large central community room is anchored by a large granite fireplace. There is also a library in the center, and a kitchen and dining room, as well as bedrooms and an indoor bath.

A cement swimming pool was built about 300 yards behind the Center adjacent to a clear spring. There was also a health center on the property, but it is no longer extant.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call this community a sort of Black Utopia, in that it thrived with little interaction with the wider world, an island unto itself during the dark years of the Jim Crow era.

By promoting self-sufficiency and land ownership, in tandem with a strong embrace of education, the community met its goals. For several years, Black rural teachers even came for training on community involvement. And by 1940, Blacks owned 27,000 acres of land in Hancock County.

The Log Cabin community, as it came to be affectionately known, weathered the years of the Great Depression in good stead and survived into the 1950s.It was even held up by segregationist governor Herman Talmadge as an example for Southern rural blacks to emulate. By that time modern trends were taking people of all races away from the countryside with the promise of better lives in rapidly expanding urban centers.

Ben Hubert, who never married, died in 1958. The Center and surrounding property were left to his siblings, and Mabel Hubert Warner (1900-1973) purchased their shares in 1962. It is still in the family and has been recognized as a Georgia Centennial Farm.

Camilla-Zack Community Center District, National Register of Historic Places