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28-547: Instrumental in the creation and preservation of the seashore were several conservation organizations including the Sierra Club and the Georgia Conservancy. The island is only accessible by boat. The Cumberland Island Visitor Center, Cumberland Island Museum, and Lang concession ferry to the island are located in the city of St. Marys, Georgia . Public access via the ferry is limited, reservations are recommended. Camping

56-492: A day only on Mondays - Thursdays to Cumberland Island from the mainland ( St. Marys, Georgia ). Visitors cannot bring vehicles on the ferry, and there are no paved roads or trails. Bikes are available for rent at the Sea Camp Dock, on a first-come, first-served basis. Visitors may bring their own bikes on the ferry to the island for an additional charge. There is one camping area with running water and bathrooms with cold showers;

84-407: A dense diversity of coastal flora and fauna. The National Park Service employs a full-time wildlife manager and scientists, and hosts researchers periodically. The park contains at least 23 distinct ecological communities, making it the largest and most biodiverse of Georgia's barrier islands. Birds, particularly migratory waterfowl, have been studied. The public areas of Cumberland Island are part of

112-563: A four-story tabby mansion over a Timucuan shell mound . During the War of 1812 the island was occupied by the British, who used the house as a headquarters. In 1818, Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee , a cavalry commander during the Revolutionary War and father of Robert E. Lee , stayed at the house until his death on March 25, 1818, cared for by Greene's daughter Louisa, and was laid to rest in

140-468: A national seashore managed by the National Park Service . NPS restricts access to 300 people on the island at a time, and campers are allowed to stay no more than seven nights. The island is only accessible by boat. The Cumberland Queen ferry runs three times a day from March 1 to September 30. From October 1 to November 31 it only runs twice a day. From December 1 to February 28 the boat runs twice

168-654: A nearby cemetery with full military honors provided by an American fleet stationed at St. Marys, Georgia . The house was abandoned during the U.S. Civil War and burned in 1866. In the 1880s the property was purchased by Thomas M. Carnegie , brother of Andrew Carnegie , who began to build a new mansion on the site. The 59-room Queen Anne style mansion and grounds were completed after Carnegie's death in 1886. His wife Lucy continued to live at Dungeness and built other estates for her children, including Greyfield for Margaret Carnegie Ricketson, Plum Orchard for George Lauder Carnegie , and Stafford Plantation . By this time,

196-610: A small museum with exhibits that showcase original artifacts and replicas from the island's prehistoric, colonial, early American and Gilded Era periods. Tabby concrete foundations dating to the early 1800s were discovered during the renovation of the structure. These foundations are believed to be those of a general store that may have been active during the Greene-Miller era of the island's history. The Dungeness and Plum Orchard were designated as National Historic Districts in 1982 and 1984 respectively. The Dungeness district contains

224-562: Is a city in Camden County , Georgia , United States, located on the southern border of Camden County on the St. Marys River in the state's Low Country. It had a population of 18,256 at the 2020 census , up from 17,121 at the 2010 census . It is part of the Kingsland, Georgia Micropolitan Statistical Area . The Florida border is just to the south across the river, Cumberland Island National Seashore

252-632: Is allowed in the seashore. The 9,886-acre (40.01 km) Cumberland Island Wilderness is part of the seashore. The national seashore was authorized by Congress on October 23, 1972, and is administered by the National Park Service . The wilderness area was designated on September 8, 1982. It includes the High Point-Half Moon Bluff Historic District , which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. Cumberland Island National Seashore contains

280-605: Is named after the St. Marys River, while others say it comes from a seventeenth-century Spanish mission, Santa Maria, on nearby Amelia Island, Florida. St. Marys was recognized by an act of the Georgia legislature on December 5, 1792, with the result of incorporation in November 1802. Oak Grove Cemetery is included in the St. Marys Historic District and was laid outside the western border of St. Marys during its founding in 1787. On June 29, 1796,

308-471: Is to the northeast, and Kingsland, Georgia , is to the west. Jacksonville, Florida , is 38 miles south, and Savannah, Georgia , is 110 miles north. The city is home to the National Seashore's visitor center and boat access; the St. Marys Submarine Museum, and Crooked River State Park . It is bordered by Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base , home port for several Ohio -class submarines . The city hosts

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336-483: The 2020 United States census , there were 18,256 people, 6,966 households, and 4,998 families residing in the city. [REDACTED] Media related to St. Marys, Georgia at Wikimedia Commons Dungeness (Cumberland Island, Georgia) Dungeness on Cumberland Island , Georgia, is a ruined mansion that is part of a historic district that was the home of several families significant in American history. The mansion

364-544: The Battle of Fort Peter occurred near the town, at the fort on Point Peter along the St. Marys River . The British captured the fort and the town and occupied it for about a month. The United States Navy bombarded the town's shoreside buildings during the American Civil War . St. Marys served as Camden County's seat of government from 1869 until 1923. St. Marys is located along the southern border of Camden County on

392-616: The Treaty of Colerain was signed just up the river from St Marys between the United States and the Creek Nation , the indigenous inhabitants of this territory. St. Marys town founder Langley Bryant served as the official interpreter between the Creek Indians and the United States. St. Marys was made a United States port of entry by act of the U.S. Congress March 2, 1799. The first Collector

420-633: The Carnegies owned 90% of the island. The Carnegies moved out of Dungeness in 1925. In 1959 the Dungeness mansion was destroyed by fire, alleged to be arson . The ruins are today preserved by the National Park Service as part of Cumberland Island National Seashore . They were acquired by the Park Service in 1972. The main house comprises a portion of the larger historic district, which includes servant's quarters, utility buildings, laundries, cisterns , and

448-548: The Seven Years War. Following independence in the American Revolutionary War, local inhabitants of Camden County gathered on Cumberland Island and signed a charter for "a town on the St. Marys" on November 20, 1787. There were twenty charter members, who each received four town lots and one marsh lot (outside the boundary of the town on the east side in the marshes); each lot was 4 acres (1.6 ha) square, with

476-411: The annual St. Marys Rock Shrimp Festival. The area was first explored in the mid-16th century by Spanish expeditions as part of the settlement of Spanish Florida . Through the decades, it also came under the colonial influence of Great Britain and finally the United States. By the 2020 census , the city had a population of 18,256. The St. Marys river area was first explored by Spanish expeditions in

504-548: The estates of the Carnegie family. It includes information about the lives of American Revolutionary hero General Nathanael Greene and cotton-gin inventor Eli Whitney , the history of the ruined mansion Dungeness and the Plum Orchard estate. A secondary exhibit holds one of the finest transportation exhibits in coastal Georgia, including wagons, carriages, and elite travel equipment. The new exhibit "Forgotten Invasion" describes

532-466: The mid 16th century as part of the settlement of Spanish Florida , with nearby St. Augustine as the established capital. The original Spanish settlement was founded in 1566, making this the second-oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement in what became the contiguous United States. Settlement for colonial Georgians became legal after the Treaty of Paris in 1763, when Britain exchanged some territory with Spain after defeating France in

560-556: The north bank of the St. Marys River . The state of Florida is to the south, across the river. The city of Kingsland borders St. Marys to the west. According to the United States Census Bureau , St. Marys has a total area of 24.9 square miles (64.5 km ), of which 22.5 square miles (58.3 km ) is land and 2.4 square miles (6.2 km ), or 9.57%, is water. St. Marys has a humid subtropical climate ( Cfa ) with long, hot summers and short, mild winters. As of

588-446: The occupation of Cumberland Island and Camden County during the War of 1812 . The museum is staffed by volunteers and is open on weekday afternoons. This building was constructed around 1900 to store ice shipped by barge from New England to Georgia for use by the Carnegies. The ice was cut in large blocks from frozen lakes and ponds, then wrapped tightly in burlap sacks stuffed with straw and sawdust for shipping southward. The ice house

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616-493: The other camping sites do not have facilities. All food, ice and supplies must be shipped from the mainland, as there are no stores on the island. The Cumberland Island National Seashore Museum is located in St. Marys, Georgia on the mainland entrance to the seashore, across from the park's visitor center. The main exhibit focuses on the island's history, including displays on the Timucua Indians , antebellum plantations, and

644-575: The ruins of the Carnegie Dungeness mansion and its supporting structures and gardens, the Tabby House dating to the Early Republic, and a cemetery. The Plum Orchard Historic District contains the intact Plum Orchard mansion dating to the 1890s, a shell midden dating back over 4,000 years, and the mansion's support structures including an electrical house. St. Marys, Georgia St. Marys

672-485: The total town area being 2,041 acres (826 ha). These twenty city founders are named on an historical marker in downtown St. Marys: Isaac Wheeler, William Norris, Nathaniel Ashley, William Ashley, Lodowick Ashley, James Seagrove, James Finley, John Fleming, Robert Seagrove, Henry Osborne, Thomas Norris, Jacob Weed, John Alexander, Langley Bryant, Jonathan Bartlett, Stephen Conyers, William Ready, Prentis Gallup, Simeon Dillingham and Richard Cole. The original boundaries of

700-466: The town correspond to the modern waterfront, Bartlett Street, North Street, and a block east of Norris Street. There were two public town squares. However, in the original deed the town was unnamed, and for several years afterwards in public documents it was referred to as either St. Marys or St. Patrick's, and colloquially as simply "the New Town". Accounts differ regarding the origin of the name—some say it

728-483: Was James Seagrove . During the antebellum period , Archibald Clark served as the U.S. Customs Collector from 1807 until his death in 1848. After the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves took effect in 1808, St. Marys became, along with Spanish Amelia Island , a center for smuggling, especially during the period between 1812-1819 when various rebel groups held Amelia Island. During the War of 1812 ,

756-504: Was constructed as a large cooler, its walls packed with a thick layer of straw and saw dust insulation. A gabled cupola extends for the length of the roof, providing an outlet for warm air that rises to the top of the building. When a generator for electricity was installed on the island and ice could be made on-site, the ice house became a storage area. The building has been restored by the National Park Service and converted into

784-511: Was named after a nearby sandy spit at the southern end of the island, first recorded in a land grant petition in 1765 and almost certainly named after the Dungeness headland, on the south coast of England . The first Dungeness house was the legacy of Revolutionary War hero Nathanael Greene , who had acquired 11,000 acres (45 km ) of island land in 1783 in exchange for a bad debt. In 1800, his widow Catharine Miller (by then remarried) built

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