HALIFAX, N.S. - A family reunion is usually a happy homecoming, and while there is always joyous sounds and family fun at the Africville reunion, the annual pilgrimage to this land has a haunting and heartbreaking history.

"It started with a group of black loyalists that came in, then the Jamaican Maroons and the black refugees, and they fought in the American Revolution because they were promised by the British that they would get land, said Africville descendant, Castealia Ross.

“They didn't get the land they were promised so they dispersed all around Nova Scotia.”

Many settled here in Africville along the shore of the Bedford Basin. But in the 1960’s, the community was levelled by the city for industrial development. The residents were torn apart and dispersed into public housing in different neighbourhoods.

Gloria Wesley is a Halifax based author collecting untold stories about the community for her new book titled Writing Canada’s Wrong: Africville, which is set to be released this fall and chronicles the destruction of the community and the racism faced by its residents.

Wesley describes the community as one of love.

 “I think that’s what they lost,” she said,” they lost their definition of what community was.”

The number of original residents who once called Africville home continues to dwindle, but their descendants are determined to never let the story fade.

"It’s kind of upsetting and very emotional just because they were taken out of their homes and they were destroyed & the church that was the heart of the community," Ross said.

Public pressure and a court challenge would lead the city of Halifax to officially apologize and offer to pay compensation, but there still has been no settlement reached.

“We have faith we have courage to speak up & determination to change things against all odds," said Wesley.

And in a sign of good faith the municipality did step up to rebuild a replica of the church that once stood on the grounds. It serves as a museum to document the dark chapter in Halifax history, but to many stands as a beacon of hope that while their community may have been destroyed, their spirts were never broken.

The 35th reunion began on Friday and lasts for ten days, wrapping up with a church service on Sunday, July 24. The museum will be open daily for visitors from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Marie Adsett.