Golden Isles of Georgia (03-19-13)

Georgia’s barrier islands and the nearby forts were our first stop in the state.  We stayed in the town of Brunswick Georgia and made day trips to Jekyll and St. Simons Island. These Islands couldn’t be more different from each other, although they are separated by only a few miles of water.
Jekyll Island, these days, is pretty much a huge playground.  There are beaches, bike trails, volleyball courts, a campground, picnic areas.  Very nicely done.  I didn’t take any pictures, strangely enough.  We took our bikes over there and after walking on the beach for an hour, we biked part way around the island- about 15 miles.  The water here is not the beautiful blue that it is in Florida.  It’s quite brown and not at all pretty.  Maybe that’s why I didn’t take any pictures?

  The following day we drove to St. Simons Island, and toured the ruins of the town and Fort Frederica. There is very little left of the buildings themselves, but the foundations have been shored up, and a plaque describes what the history of each building is.  The town was originally settled by General Oglethorpe of England, with the express purpose of deterring the invasion of the Spaniards from Florida in the early-mid 1700s.

Because for many years, France, Spain and England claimed all  this area as their own, it earned the name “the debatable lands”. Several Forts, including Frederica and Fort King George, were built by the English to rebuff the French and Spanish.The English also brought in some Scottish Highlanders to help man the forts and fight off the would-be intruders.

The fort itself was situated right on the banks of the river, with the town laid out in perfect rectangular plots directly behind it.  Each settler was granted a 60’ x 90’ plot to build on.

  Although in 1743 over 1000 people lived in Frederica, a peace treaty signed by Great Britain and Spain in 1748, sounded a death knell for the town.  Without the need to defend against Spain, the troops were disbanded and the local economy collapsed.  About half the townspeople stayed on, until 1758, when a fire leveled most of what was left of the town.

We also toured Fort King George in Darien, which has been restored to a greater degree, but both forts were actually really interesting to explore. At Frederica, the small plaques did a great job of describing what the town was like, whereas at Fort King George, the information was much more visual.

I get somewhat bored touring a fort that focuses on the battles and the armament of the fort itself. I like to know about the people and how they lived.  Fort Frederica, even though there wasn’t much actually there, gave me  a real sense of the life these settlers lived. 

Fort King George did that too, in a different way- by recreating what the the buildings looked like, inside and out, back in the mid 1700s.