Due to the response to my feature on Jekyll Island postcards, I’m sharing a small sampling of my St. Simons Island cards. I will likely update and add more views in the future. I have several older cards that aren’t scanning well but will work on those.
St. Simons was named for a refugee community known as San Simón, associated with the Catholic missions located on the northern [Santo Domingo de Asao, or Asajo] and southern [San Buenaventura de Guadalquini] ends of the island in the 1600s. These missions and villages were abandoned after pirate raids in 1684. (Though the island is formally named “Saint Simons”, and some locals prefer the spelled out version, the abbreviated “St. Simons“ is widely accepted and much more commonly used).
Gascoigne Bluff, “The Gateway to St. Simons”
Gascoigne Bluff was named for Capt. James Gascoigne, who brought the first settlers to Frederica. The Spaniards landed here during their ill-fated 1742 invasion of the island. Long considered the gateway to Saint Simons, Gascoigne Bluff has been home to a plantation, timber mills, and most recently, the United Methodist retreat known as Epworth-by-the-Sea.
The original causeway, built in 1924, terminated at Gascoigne Bluff. Several replacements and upgrades have followed. This drawbridge was part of the second generation causeway, constructed circa 1950. I’m old enough to remember this drawbridge and waiting (and waiting…) for passing boat traffic to get on the island.
Frederica Area
The road to Frederica was a narrow dirt path in the early 20th century. It is now a busy paved highway.
Fort Frederica is the most important surviving relic of the early settlement of St. Simons Island. Some of the early postcards identified Fort Frederica as Fort Oglethorpe, though this was never its name.
It was named Frederica by Oglethorpe to honor Frederick Lewis, the prince of Wales, and was feminized to Frederica since there was already a Fort Frederick at Port Royal, South Carolina. The Kings’s Magazine, built circa 1740, is often represented as the fort itself, but was just a small part of the facility. It was the storehouse for powder and ammunition.
The only other surviving structure on the property is the barracks. The architecture is typical of other English forts of the era.
This card depicts an old mausoleum. It’s located in the cemetery [now known as the Frederica Old Burial Ground] adjacent to the village of Frederica and is misidentified as being Spanish. This was common when these postcards were produced in the 1910s-1930s.
The Frederica Yacht Club was located just south of the fort. It was established in the 1930s by Franklin Horne, who also opened the King and Prince in 1935. An early manager of the yacht club, Bennie Gentile, opened Bennie’s Red Barn in 1954. The club was closed by the 1970s and the clubhouse was demolished.
This landing on the Frederica River, predates the yacht club.
On 7 July 7 1742, English and Spanish forces skirmished on St. Simons Island, near this site. The event, which later came to be known as the Battle of Bloody Marsh, was the only attempted invasion of Georgia by the Spanish during the War of Jenkins’ Ear. The English victory put an end to the war along the Georgia-Florida border.
The Oglethorpe Monument marks the site of the Battle of Bloody Marsh. It was erected by the Society of Colonial Wars in 1904(?) and features a bronze plaque created by Tiffany & Co.
Christ Church has been integral to the history of St. Simons since its establishment in 1820 and is one of the best-loved historic sites on the island. Charles Wesley, brother of Methodism’s founder, John Wesley, was with Oglethorpe at the founding of Frederica in 1736.
This old tomb is still a highlight of the cemetery at Christ Church. It is known as the Hazzard Tomb, and bears the inscription “Hazzard – A. D. 1813” on a bronze plaque. William Hazzard (1684-1757) was the owner of West Point Plantation, on St. Simons.
Plantations
The mysterious Pink Chapel was located on West Point Plantation.
King’s Retreat was historically home to Retreat Plantation, originally owned by Major William Page beginning in 1804. His daughter, Anna Matilda, married Thomas Butler King, and was a later owner.
The King & Prince, the most iconic hotel on St. Simons, was built on property of the old King’s Retreat.
Marvin L. Long operated this popular tourist attraction for many years. A series of two-wheeled carts, pulled first by mules, and later, by a Jeep, ferried visitors around some of the natural areas of St. Simons island.
Light House, Pier, and Beaches
One of the most popular landmarks on the island is the Light House and keepers cottage.
The 104′ beacon was built in 1872 to replace an earlier tower built in 1810.
This structure was the first of four “county casino” buildings. Built in 1928, it was destroyed by fire in 1935. Casino in this context just means a public recreational facility.
A source online notes that this was the fourth St. Simons casino building but “mhanneld” writes: “…In 2006 the building identified as the second casino was extensively renovated and modified, but the core structure is still what is referred to as the second casino.” This was one of many cards published by Lau-Rhea Ward Smith (1899-1982) and Ward News Company.
Private cottages and boarding houses lined the beach, near the pier.
The Spanish Cannon in front of this boarding house was obviously a well-regarded historical relic when this card was made.
This early view of the shows steamers, which brought early tourists to the island before the construction of a causeway.
This 1930s card shows tourists dressed for a day on the island. Though the causeway was already constructed, not everyone owned cars at this time. A tourist boat is visible in the background.
This 1950s view looks out to the pier from “downtown” St. Simons, better known as “The Village”.
Dress for the beach circa 1908 was quite different than today.
At the time of its construction in 1937, the East Beach Coast Guard Station was the only such facility in Georgia. It serves as a museum today.
Hotels
This card was mailed from St. Simons Island to Los Angeles in 1911. My understanding is that this grand hotel was built circa 1910 and was destroyed by fire circa 1916.
This is one of at least two hotels by this name. The card was mailed in 1924.
This property, a boarding house, was owned by W. Arnold and rented rooms for $3 per day. It was also known as the Arnold House.
Privately owned tourist cottages were the primary form of lodging on St. Simons throughout the early 20th century.
The Stanton Inn was another boarding house that seems quite small by today’s tourist standards.
The Sea Haven had a great reputation, a step up from some of the simpler boarding houses popular from the 1910s-1950s.
The Surf-Side represented an evolution from the tourist homes and boarding houses to a more modern property.
Like the Surf-Side, Crafts Ocean Court was a new property. It was quintessentially Mid-Century Modern.
