Cumberland Island
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Cumberland Island is one of the Sea Islands. Cumberland is the largest in terms of continuously exposed land area of Georgia's barrier islands, It is located on the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the U.S. state of Georgia and is part of Camden County (30°51′N, 81°27′W). The island is 17.5 miles (28 km) long, with an area of 36,415 acres (147.37 km²), including 16,850 acres (68.19 km²) of marsh, mudflats, and tidal creeks. There is no bridge to the island; most visitors reach the island by the Cumberland Ferry, while the most convenient boat access is from the town of St. Marys, Georgia.
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[edit] Ecology
The island has three major ecosystem regions. Along the western edge of the island there are large areas of saltwater marshes. One will also see gnarled live oak trees covered with Spanish moss and the palmetto plants at the edge of Cumberland's dense maritime forest. Cumberland Island's most famous ecosystem is its beach, which stretches over 17 miles (27 km). The island is home to many native animals, as well as non-native species. There are whitetail deer, squirrels, raccoons, armadillos, wild pigs, alligators, as well as many marshland inhabitants, and many species of birds, including the occasional bald eagle.
[edit] History
Cumberland Island's first inhabitants, the Timucua Indians, called Cumberland 'Missoe'. They lived on the island as early as 4,000 years ago. During the 16th century, Cumberland Island was part of the Mocama missionary province of Spanish Florida and home to one of the main Spanish mission towns, San Pedro de Mocama. Most of the Timucuans converted to Christianity before the funding for the missions was cut. The Spanish then left, and most of the natives died of European diseases or chose to leave as well. When Oglethorpe started the colony of Georgia, he had a hunting lodge on Cumberland named Dungeness after a river in Europe.
[edit] The Greenes and 19th Century
Revolutionary War hero Nathaniel Greene purchased land on the island in 1783 to harvest live oaks for ship building. Wood from the island was used to build the USS Constitution, "Old Ironsides". His wife, Catherine, remarried 10 years later to Phineas Miller, and they followed through on Greene's designs, building a huge, four-story tabby mansion on top of an Indian shell mound. She named it Dungeness after Oglethorpe's lodge. The mansion, with 6-foot thick walls at the base, featured four chimneys and 16 fireplaces, and was surround by 12 acres of gardens. Dungeness was the scene of many special social galas where statesmen and military leaders enjoyed the Millers' hospitality. When the island was briefly occupied during the War of 1812, the British used Dungeness as their headquarters.
In 1818, Gen. "Lighthorse" Harry Lee, Revolutionary War hero and old friend of Nathaniel Greene, came ashore at Cumberland Island. He was in failing health and was returning from the West Indies when he asked to be taken to his old friend's estate of Dungeness. After a month of illness, he died on March 25 and was buried on the island. His son, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, had a tombstone placed over the grave and visited his father's final resting place several times. In 1913, Harry Lee was moved to Lexington, Virginia, to lie beside his famous son, but the gravestone was left on Cumberland Island.
The plantation economy was dealt a deathblow with the Civil War, and Dungeness deteriorated and the family moved away. Dungeness burned down in1866.
[edit] The Carnegies
In the 1880s Thomas M. Carnegie, brother of steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, bought land on Cumberland for a winter retreat, and in 1884, began building a mansion on the site of Dungeness, though he never lived to see its completion. His wife, Lucy, and 9 children, however, continued to live on the island, and named their mansion Dungeness after the Greene's. Dungeoness was a 59 room Scottish castle. They also built pools, a golf course, and 40 smaller buildings to house the 200 servants that worked at the mansion.The Carnegies lived in Dungeoness until 1959 when it burnt down. Today, the ruins of the mansion remain on the southern end of the island. The Carnegies owned 90% of the Island. In the 1890s "The Settlement" was established at the north end of the island for black workers. The First African Baptist Church, established here in 1893 and rebuilt in the 1930s, is one of the few remaining structures of this community.
The estates built by Lucy Carnegie for her children include:
- Greyfieldbuilt in 1900, now a private inn.
- Plum Orchard, donated to the NPS in 1972, and currently maintained by the NPS.
- Stafford, not currently maintained.
[edit] Conservation
In 1955 the National Park Service named Cumberland Island as one of the most significant natural areas in the United States. In 1969 a developer tried to turn Cumberland Island into a commercial area. This caused environmental activists and the Georgia Conservancy to band together and push a bill through the US Congress that established Cumberland Island as a national seashore. The bill was signed by President Richard Nixon in 1972. The Carnegie family then sold the island to the federal government and with donations from the Mellon Foundation, Cumberland Island became a national park and is currently one of the most undeveloped places in the United States.[1]
[edit] Current Land Ownership
Cumberland Island is really two islands--the island proper and Little Cumberland Island--connected by a marsh. Little Cumberland is privately owned and not generally open to the public. Historically, Cumberland Island was in private hands, but large areas were deeded to the National Parks Foundation by members or heirs of the Carnegie family in 1971. Other lands in private ownership were purchased with funds provided by the Mellon Foundation and Congress, and in 1972 Cumberland Island was designated a national seashore. A small number of people--principally descendants of property owners--still have houses on the western and northern regions of the island, though only a very few people actually live year-round on the island. Many, however, have sold their property to the National Park Service (NPS), which in turn leases the property back to the former landowners during their lifetime. Eventually, the property will revert to the Park Service and become part of the national seashore.
[edit] Visiting Cumberland
The public areas of Cumberland Island are part of a national seashore managed by the National Park Service. There are limits how many humans can be on the island at any one time: up to 300 visitors per day, and campers may stay only 7 nights. A ferry runs twice a day to Cumberland Island from the mainland (St. Marys, Georgia). The only other way to reach the island is by private boat. Visitors cannot bring vehicles or bikes on the ferry, and there are no paved roads or trails. Bikes are available for rent at the Sea Camp Dock and bicycle rentals are on a first come first serve basis. See the ferry deck hands about bike rentals. You may also bring your own bikes to the island on a private or charter boat. Visitors walk everywhere they go, but Cumberland Island is less than six miles (10 km) wide at the widest point. The eastern seashore is 17.5 miles (28 km) of continuous beach. There is one camping area with running water and bathrooms with cold showers; 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. Things to see include:
- Dungeness Ruins
- Wildlife
- Ecosystems
- Wild Horses and other animals
- First African Baptist Church. Maintained by the National Park Service, this simple one-room frame structure, with 11 handmade pews, and three windows on each side, was built in 1937 to replace a cruder 1893 structure.
[edit] Popular Culture References
- Cumberland Island was the setting for Stuart Woods' novel "Palindrome"
- John F. Kennedy Jr. married Carolyn Bessette at the First African Baptist Church in September 1996.
