Cumberland Island, GA

Wednesday I took the ferry over to Cumberland Island, the southernmost barrier island in GA. It's an island filled with history going back several centuries. The original people here were the Timucua indians, followed by Spaniards, British, and then Americans. In the early 1800's Nathaniel Greene bought a large portion of the island and built the Dungeness castle for his wife. After his death, she remarried, and with the large amount of money that he left her, she built large homes for her children. The island also included a large slave settlement and plantation, and many of the slaves were hired to serve in the different family homes on the island. Until the 1960's the entirety of the large island remained in the Carnagie family, and then was sold or given in portion by the grandchildren to the government to become a State Park. There's still one section of the island that remains private, because that descendant has chosen to keep the property, rather than giving it to be a part of the State Park. Below are some pictures from my day trip. It's really quite lovely. The only way to get there is by ferry and no vehicles are allowed on the island. Its over 17 miles long, so there's no way to see it all by foot in one day, but I enjoyed the Dungeness ruins and spending time on the beach side of the island. The only downside was the swarms of mosquitos present everywhere on the island except for the beach, but the 100+ mosquito bites I received were worth the beautiful pictures I was able to take. If you ever make a visit to the island, though, I would highly recommend that you not go during mosquito season!