Tag Archives: Georgia Marshes & Estuaries

Yellow Bluff Creek, Colonels Island

Stars & Stripes, Highway 80

An American flag flying in a marsh near Tybee Island, Georgia, surrounded by tall grass under a blue sky.

Travelers to Tybee Island have undoubtedly seen this flag, flying proudly in the marsh on Highway 80 a bit west of Fort Pulaski.

Oatland Island, Savannah

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A wide pathway leading up to a brick building with white columns and large windows, surrounded by green hedges and trees, under a blue sky with clouds.

The first owner of Oatland Island, after the Guale people, was John McQueen (1756-1807) and his wife, Anne Smith McQueen (1756-1809). John was fictionalized by Eugenia Price as Don Juan McQueen, in her best-selling 1974 novel of that title. McQueen was a land speculator and well-connected Revolutionary War patriot, who, after the war, fled to Spanish Florida to escape his debtors. Anne McQueen retained Oatland until her death. Their daughter, Eliza Anne McQueen Mackay (1778-1862) and husband Robert Gordon Mackay (1772-1816) maintained crops and enslaved laborers on the island for years thereafter.

The “main building” on Oatland Island (pictured above), was built as a retirement home in 1927 for the Order of Railroad Conductors and served that purpose until 1940. It is quite typical of institutional architecture of its era. It was subsequently purchased by the United States Public Health Service and served as a hospital in World War II, specializing in the treatment of venereal diseases, until the widespread application of penicillin for this purpose rendered a hospital unnecessary. Circa 1944, it was transferred to the Malaria Control in War Areas (MCWA) division of the Public Health Service. The MCWA evolved into the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and until being surplussed in 1973, it was used as a development laboratory by the CDC. Martha Barnes adds this interesting bit of Savannah trivia: “People who read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil will remember the main building as where Luther Driggers worked and actually developed the chemical used in today’s flea collars, but in the book he was always about to poison Savannah’s water supply.“

The Chatham County Board of Education has owned it since then and it now serves over 20,000 students and visitors each year as an educational center for the surrounding Oatland Island Wildlife Center. It served as a set location for The General’s Daughter.

A weathered and rusty water tower against a blue sky, partially obscured by green foliage.

Carol Suttle, a Savannah native and Oatland’s most enthusiastic ambassador, contacted me several months ago about photographing the old water tower at the entrance to the center; it’s scheduled to be demolished and it’s one of her favorite structures on the island. Touring the island and its natural features with Carol and photographer Mike McCall was a real treat, and I hope to revisit in the future. Located just past downtown Savannah on the Islands Expressway (US 80), it’s often overlooked by tourists heading to Tybee Island but is well worth a visit. The site includes historic structures from the distant past as well as structures related to the government research that went on during the mid-1900s.

A rustic log cabin surrounded by lush green trees and grass, featuring a sloped roof and a wooden porch.

David Hamilton Delk, Jr. (1812-1880), built this cabin in 1837 in the Taylor’s Creek community near Gum Branch in Liberty County. It was moved and reconstructed here by the Youth Conservation Corps in 1979. The layout is of the Scots/Irish or “shotgun” design (not to be confused with the more common and more recent shotgun “house”), a vernacular form common in early Georgia.

A rustic log corn crib surrounded by dense green forest, featuring a wooden porch and a simple wooden door.

Martha Phillips Youngblood writes that the corn crib pictured above was originally owned by her grandfather, Thomas Hilton Phillips, and was moved here from Treutlen County.

An abandoned, overgrown shop surrounded by dense vegetation and trees, with peeling blue paint and rusty details.

Several abandoned structures from the CDC era remain on the island.

An old, weathered concrete structure covered in vines and surrounded by dense greenery in a forested area.

This concrete structure indicates the danger of the work that was done here.

An abandoned wooden boat partially surrounded by lush greenery and trees, showing signs of weathering and neglect.

A hand-crafted boat from the 1970s can also be seen on the property.

A close-up of a gopher tortoise sitting on green grass, with grass strands in its mouth.

Gopher Tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus), as well as wolves and bison can be easily seen on the property.

A serene Richardson Creek near Savannah, flowing through lush green grasslands under a partly cloudy sky.

Beautiful Richardson Creek runs adjacent to the island.

Scenic view of a marsh on Oatland Island with lush green grass and trees along the edge of Richardson Creek, under a blue sky with fluffy white clouds.

Fort King George, 1721, Darien

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The first British outpost in present-day Georgia, Fort King George was built and commanded by Colonel John “Tuscarora Jack” Barnwell in 1721, under the auspices of South Carolina Governor Francis Nicholson. Upon its construction it was the southernmost fort in British North America, manned by His Majesty’s Independent Company of Foot. The British claimed the land along the Altamaha River as part of the South Carolina colony as a protection against Spanish forces, who sought to expand their reach northward from Florida. Colonel Barnwell died in 1724 and a mysterious fire claimed the fort in 1726. Rebuilt, it remained in use as a garrison until 1732 when it was officially abandoned. Upon its ruins General Oglethorpe founded Darien in 1736.

The blockhouse was built of cypress logs. Its construction proved no simple matter in the wilderness of Coastal Georgia. Though Nicholson and Barnwell had requested fit young soldiers, they were instead supplied with members of the Regiment of Invalids, veterans who in one way or another were not capable of heavy service. The British welfare system of the day allowed them light duty and by 1722 about 100 soldiers were sent from a hospital in Port Royal, South Carolina, to Fort King George.

From embrasures (gun-ports) on the top level of the blockhouse, soldiers kept watch over the Altamaha River delta. Guardhouses, or sentry towers, were also essential to the site’s security.

None of the original fortification survives; the structures seen today were built using original plans in 1988. Besides the blockhouse, an officers’ quarters and workshop were also reconstructed.

Barracks were located at the rear of the property and provided quarters for His Majesty’s Independent Company of Foot.

Black Island Creek flows behind the barracks.

National Register of Historic Places

Cay Creek Wetlands Interpretive Center, Midway

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If you enjoy natural areas, Cay Creek Wetlands Interpretive Center is one of the best day trips in Coastal Georgia. They have ample parking, picnic tables, and a boardwalk which covers several different ecosystems.

It’s a place for reflection, as well as a haven for amateur naturalists, birdwatchers and anyone who enjoys the outdoors. Best of all, it’s free and open to everyone, through the daylight hours seven days a week.