A little history first. This area was occupied by Indians (“Native Americans”, if you will, but that was before there were Americans.) Then came the French and Spanish missions, which were driven out by the Indians they came to convert. General Oglethorpe, who founded the Georgia colony in Savannah, established forts at Darien (Fort King George – a state park) and Fort Frederica (National Park Service), both of which can be toured, as well as an outpost at Fort St. Simons (long gone). The purpose of these was to discourage Spanish attacks from the south. While it doesn’t receive much more attention than a footnote, the “Battle of Bloody Marsh,” fought on the edge of the marsh just northeast of the McKinnon-St. Simons Airport, was a watershed moment in the history of the English-speaking colonies. By virtue of some trickery and exceptional luck, a much larger force of Spanish troops sent from St. Augustine was persuaded to leave, ending once and for all any significant effort to drive the English back north.

During the colonial era, and right up to the Civil War, there were many plantations on St. Simons and along the Altamaha River, mostly producing rice and “Sea Island” cotton. The Lodge and the golf course on which The McGladrey Classic is being played were part of one of the more important plantations known as “Retreat.”

Jumping ahead to World War II, Liberty ships were built at a shipyard in Brunswick, one of eighteen locations in the United States where these ships were constructed. There is a list of the ninety-nine Brunswick ships, listing the fate of each, at the Visitor Center at the Mainland end of the Causeway. There is also a model of a liberty ship at Mary Ross Park at the west end of Gloucester Street, near the docks in Brunswick. You can still see several of the “ways” where the ships were launched if you look to the right when you cross the Sidney Lanier Bridge on US 17 going south.

The Brunswick Airport was built during World War II as a naval air station, and used for training. It was also a base for submarine patrols using blimps. The Navy base closed in the early seventies, and became the headquarters and one of the principle facilities for the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, now operated by the Department of Homeland Security. Federal agents from over eighty agencies receive training here, as well as local and state police.

To get more information, ask a local to tell you about Sidney Lanier, the Lover’s Oak, the Jekyll Island Club, Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation, Brunswick Stewbilee, First Friday, and ghost tours (there are several).

Enjoy your visit!

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