This tree, known to most visitors to Ossabaw Island and not much beyond, is called the “Angel Oak”, for its shape, which mimics raised arms or wings. It can be presumed that it was damaged or deformed early in its growth, but from this damage came a beautiful living work of art.
The free-roaming miniature Sicilian Donkeys that have become a symbol of Ossabaw Island were introduced by Sandy West as a gift for her son in 1965.
With no natural predators on the island, the donkey herd grew to over a hundred individuals by the late 1990s.
In the year 2000, a state management plan declared the donkeys an invasive species and the majority of the herd was relocated through adoption to locations on the mainland.
Today, only about eight donkeys remain on the island. They have been sterilized to prevent future expansion of the herd, but the survivors are loved by all who are lucky enough to visit Ossabaw. They are usually very curious and greet visitors soon after their arrival. They often seek shade in the old tabby smokehouse.
You can help support the herd by adopting one of the donkeys, through the Ossabaw Island Foundation.
This is the view from the Club House to Torrey Landing.
National Register of Historic Places
This secluded road leads to the Torrey-West House.
National Register of Historic Places
The Club House was constructed during Philadelphia department store magnate John Wanamaker’s ownership of Ossabaw Island. Some sources state it was originally built for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876 and moved to Ossabaw and reconstructed; other accounts suggest that it was simply a kit house, without the Philadelphia history. Either way, it’s the place where most visitors stay on the island today.
National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
Besides the tabby slave cabins, this is the only surviving structure from North End Plantation. It has been expanded with brick veneer.
National Register of Historic Places
Modified for residential use in the 20th century and restored in the late 2000s, the three extant tabbies on Ossabaw Island represent the most significant surviving group of slave dwellings on the Georgia coast. They were part of the Morel family’s North End Plantation, which was among the most successful such operations in early Georgia. Though exact construction dates for the tabby row can’t be determined, extensive archaeological research has determined they were built between circa 1820-1840s. Various Ossabaw employees lived in these structures into the early 1990s and they were modified to accommodate modern needs. Nearly all traces of those modifications have been removed and restoration work has been done.
This cabin has been stabilized and will eventually be restored. Past modifications are still visible.
This cabin retains its central chimney.
Like the other two cabins, this was originally a saddlebag though the central chimney has been removed.
National Register of Historic Places
This structure, also known as the Bachelor’s House, was built for partners of the Strachan Shipping Company who purchased Ossabaw Island from Henry Davis Weed in 1916. During their ownership it was used primarily as a hunting plantation and at least one superintendent (Hinely) and his family lived here.
National Register of Historic Places
Built as the winter residence of Dr. Henry Norton Torrey, Ossabaw’s Spanish Revival “Main House” was designed by Swedish-born Savannah architect Henrik Wallin (1873-1936). Its pink stucco walls, whose tones vary widely with the changing light of the day, are a defining feature. Red clay roof tiles and wrought iron ornamentation complete the Mediterranean character of the house. [There is no public access to the house, which the Ossabaw Island Foundation hopes to eventually stabilize and restore].
The Torrey family had owned a 40-room winter residence, Greenwich, in Savannah. They bought Ossabaw Island after Greenwich burned, and built the house between 1924-1926. Dr. Torrey was a prominent Detroit physician whose wife Nell Ford Torrey was the granddaughter of John Baptiste Ford, the founder of the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company (PPG). Dr. Ford died in 1945 and upon his wife’s death in 1959, the island was inherited by their daughter Eleanor “Sandy” Torrey West and her late brother’s heirs. But Sandy was the only one interested in living there full-time and it became her domain.
In 1961, Sandy and husband Clifford West established the Ossabaw Island Foundation, which served as an artist’s colony from October until June each year. Sandy sold the island to the State of Georgia (via the Nature Conservancy) in 1978, retaining a life estate. She lived in the Main House until 2016, at which time she moved to Savannah to an assisted living facility.
At 105, Sandy West remains a beloved symbol of independence for her tireless efforts to protect Ossabaw from development. Jane Fishman profiled her in a fascinating book, The Woman Who Saved an Island: The Story of Sandy West and Ossabaw Island, (Real People Publishing, Savannah, 2014).
National Register of Historic Places