Martin Family Park Address: 68 Boundary St, Bluffton, SC 29910

The Martin Family Park is a new park located across the street from DuBois Park. With wide-open green spaces and plenty of parking, it's a great place to meet other families. You’ll find bathrooms next to the parking lot between Green street and Lawrence street. The best feature of this park is its oversized benches and seats which allow plenty of room to sit and enjoy a sunny day. The park is named after Ida Martin, the founder of Bluffton Self Help. Parking Monday through Friday from 9 am till 5 pm.

Text from the sign above....

MARTIN FAMILY PARK Honoring The Martin Family's Legacy of Service to the Town Of Bluffton Dedicated April 8, 2021

The Town of Bluffton honors the Martin Family led by Jacob "Jake" and Ida Martin, as exemplary community servant leaders. Jake and Ida met at the Shanklin Boarding School in Beaufort County and married in 1948. The couple had four children: the late Richard, Richard II, Constance and Crawford Martin. After living in the Midwest, they returned to Bluffton in 1979 where ministry to others was their way of life. Active in Campbell Chapel AME Church, their giving-spirit started in church andextended throughout the community.

At 60 years old, Ida founded Bluffton Self Help, Inc. in 1987. In 2012, she also founded the Bluffton Community Soup Kitchen. Jacob's public service career spans decades. He was a police officer in Detroit, Michigan and a police chief in Waukegan, Illinois. Afterwards, he taught government/economics at McCracken High School in Bluffton and retired as a district office administrator after 23 years of service. Jacob also served as a municipal court judge for the Town of Bluffton from 1992-1995.

President Barack Obama awarded Ida the Presidential Citizens Medal in 2011. The Town of Bluffton inducted Ida into its Wall of Honor in 2012. She was the first woman to receive this honor. The Bluffton-Hilton Head Island Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Committees honored Jacob with a 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award for his public service career and his volunteer activities, including 28 years with Hilton Head Island's Meals-on-Wheels program.

The Martin Family's mission of neighbors helping neighbors lives on in the Bluffton community.