Georgia Natural Wonder #46 - Tybee Island and Approach Islands. (Part 1). 852

[Top Row Dawg]

Georgia Natural Wonder #46 - Tybee Island and Approach Islands. (Part 1)

OK we return to the Atlantic Ocean for the northern most section of Georgia coast, Tybee Island. There is so much to discover, I found a nice overview on New Georgia Encyclopedia and a short Wikipedia review. Then I found five sections on Tybee Island. I am breaking this down to a two part Natural Wonder. Tonight in Part 1 the overview of Tybee and the Sherpa review of Oatland, Whitemarsh, Wilmington and Talahi Islands along with Cockspur and McQueens Islands.



Tybee Island is a city and a barrier island located in Chatham County, Georgia, approximately eighteen miles from Savannah. Though the name "Tybee Island" is used for both the island and the city, geographically they are not identical: Only part of the island's territory lies within the city.



The island is the easternmost point in Georgia. The famous phrase "From Rabun Gap to Tybee Light," intended to illustrate the geographic diversity of Georgia, contrasts a mountain pass near the state's northernmost point with the coastal island's famous lighthouse.



Sitting at the mouth of the Savannah River, the 2.7-square-mile island holds a year-round population of approximately 3,400 residents, although this population increases greatly during the summer season. Longtime residents know Tybee Island as Savannah Beach, the one-time name that reflected both the town's proximity to the river and its resort-like atmosphere.



Officially renamed "Savannah Beach" in a publicity move at the end of the 1950s, the city of Tybee Island has since reverted to its original name. (The name "Savannah Beach" nevertheless appears on official state maps as far back as 1952 and as recently as the mid-1970s.) The small island, which has long been a quiet getaway for the residents of Savannah, has become a popular vacation spot with tourists from outside the Savannah metropolitan area. Tybee Island is home to the first of what would eventually become the Days Inn chain of hotels, the oft-photographed Tybee Island Light Station, and the Fort Screven Historic District.



It is one of the few locations where the U.S. Air Force dropped an atomic bomb—by accident (during a botched 1958 military training exercise). Though the "Tybee Bomb" did not detonate (and, according to some reports, was not armed with a fuse), there has been ongoing concern, since the Mark 15 nuclear bomb lost during the mishap was never found.



Early History

Tybee is thought to have been originally occupied by the Euchee tribe of Native Americans, from whom it got its name. In the Euchee language tybee means salt, a plentiful natural resource in the area. Before the island was colonized as part of Georgia, it was claimed by explorer Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon in 1520 as part of Spanish Florida. During the seventeenth century, France became interested in the island because of its sassafras root, which was thought to be a miracle elixir that—once made into tea—would cure many ailments.


Still salty today.

Protective of its territory, the Spanish attacked and captured a French ship moored off the coast of Tybee, sparking the first naval battle off the island's shores. The French later returned, however, as part of the forces helping the colonies to revolt against the British crown during the American Revolution (1775-83).


French ships still welcomed in America.

In 1733 General James Oglethorpe and the Trustees established Georgia as a military buffer zone, with Savannah as the capital, between the colony of South Carolina and the territory of Spanish Florida. Tybee Island played an important role in the creation of the new colony. Oglethorpe recognized the strategic importance of placing an outpost on Tybee to guard the mouth of the river that guided ships into the port of Savannah, and in 1736 a small fort and lighthouse were constructed on the island.

Military History

Tybee Island played an important role in several military battles. During the Revolutionary War, when British forces took control of Savannah, French and American forces used Tybee Island and other outposts as staging grounds in preparation for what was to be the second bloodiest battle of the war, the 1779 Siege of Savannah. (Only the 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill in Massachusetts resulted in higher casualties.) Tybee saw little action in the War of 1812 (1812-15), although a warning system using the island's lighthouse was set up to signal an imminent British attack on the area.



Because of its strategic location at the mouth of the Savannah River, Tybee Island has played an important role in the military history of Georgia. The island's lighthouse, constructed in 1736, was used as part of a warning system during the War of 1812.



During the War of 1812, the Tybee Island Lighthouse was used as a signal tower to warn Savannah of possible attack by the British. Though no such attack took place, a “Martello Tower” was constructed on Tybee to provide protection in guarding the Savannah River. On the western end of the island, an area known as a “lazaretto”, a variation of an Italian word meaning ‘hospital for the contagious’, was established to quarantine slaves and other passengers who might be carrying diseases. Mass burial on Tybee would be the final port of call for many of those quarantined there.


Lazaretto Creek Marina today.

At the beginning of the Civil War (1861-65), Confederate forces occupied both Tybee Island and nearby Fort Pulaski, located just across the mouth of the Savannah River. In December 1861 Confederate troops, believing the fort to be impenetrable, withdrew to Pulaski. Tybee was quickly occupied by Union forces, who constructed eleven cannon batteries and used a newly developed weapon called a rifled cannon to bombard Fort Pulaski, which finally fell on April 11, 1862.



Fort Pulaski, completed in 1847, could mount 146 cannons, some on the parapet atop the seven-and-a-half-foot-wide walls and others in casemates inside the walls. The fort is positioned at the mouth of the Savannah River, across from Tybee Island.



After the war, Fort Screven was built on the north end of Tybee Island from 1885 to 1897, when it opened as part of the U.S. coastal defense system. It was named after General James Screven who we did tangents on back in the post on Liberty County. Military troops trained at Fort Screven and from this fort guarded the United States through the Spanish-American War (1898), World War I (1917-18), and World War II (1941-45). Fort Screven was closed by the federal government in 1947 and sold to the city; part of it now serves as the museum of the Tybee Island Historical Society.



In 1855, Fort Screven was ordered built on the North end of Tybee to provide a more modern system of seacoast defenses. Six poured concrete low profile gun batteries and a minefield were ordered for Tybee along with hundreds of other military buildings. Gun Batteries, such as Battery Garland would be named to honor America’s war heroes. From 1897 to 1947, Fort Screven would be an integral part of America’s Coastal Defense system. Troops would train and stand guard on Tybee through the Spanish American War of 1898, World War I, and World War II.



In 1961, Battery Garland, the former gun battery and magazine for a 12 inch long-range gun, became the Tybee Island museum. Rooms which once stored six hundred pound projectiles and two hundred pound bags of gun powder, now hold the collections and exhibits of over four hundred years of Tybee History.



Taking the Salts

Known for its mild, fresh air and salty ocean breezes, Tybee Island took a new course toward the end of the 1800s, becoming a destination well known as a tonic for people with asthma, allergies, and other ailments. The practice called "taking the salts" likely derived from the many beneficial qualities attributed to the area by doctors, who urged patients to spend time on Tybee to cure their ailments. Supported by the Froebel Circle of Savannah, the Fresh Air Home provided a camp atmosphere in which inland children could increase their health and happiness through exposure to the sea during the summer months.


1890 Plan for Tybee.

Tybee also became well known during this time as a resort town. A short boat or train ride away from Savannah, Savannah Beach promised relief from the summertime heat and humidity that plagued inland areas.





The rate of construction on the island increased at the turn of the last century and echoed the popularity of the area as a resort.



Although the grand hotels that once lined the beach, including the Hotel Tybee and the DeSoto Beach Hotel, no longer exist, classic beach-style architecture remains a common feature of the island's houses.


Hotel Tybee, shown here about 1930, was one of several grand hotels built on Tybee Island around the turn of the twentieth century, during the area's heyday as a resort community.

The Tybrisa Pavilion, with its famous crystal ball, big bands, and dime dances, was the island's most popular destination.



With the opening of Tybee Road in 1923 to automobile traffic, the way of life on the island slowly started to change (More crowded?).



When the Tybrisa Pavilion and other local establishments burned down in 1967, the end of an era was apparent.



Although visitors can no longer ride a train to Tybee, they are still able to sit under the Tybee Pavilion, fish off the Tybee Pier, and walk along beachfront avenues.



Local events include several arts, food, and music festivals held at Tybee Pavilion; the annual Beach Bums Parade along Butler Avenue; and the Polar Bear Plunge swim in the Atlantic Ocean


A six-mile section of the railroad's old route across the marshes and causeway is now the McQueens Island bike trail.

Tybee Island Lighthouse

The Tybee Island Light Station, known as the Tybee Lighthouse, having lit the entrance of the Savannah River since 1736, is perhaps the most identifiable landmark on the island. It is one of the oldest U.S. lighthouses still in existence, and one of a few original lighthouses in full operation that still stands with its original base. Renovation commenced on the lighthouse in 1999, and in 2002 it was one of the first lighthouses transferred from federal to private ownership under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000. It is now owned and managed by the Tybee Island Historical Society.

 

The lighthouse on Tybee Island is the island's most recognized landmark. Constructed in 1736, the lighthouse is one of the oldest in the nation still in operation. Renovations began on the lighthouse in 1999, and in 2002 ownership and management of the lighthouse transferred to the Tybee Island Historical Society.

 

We turn now to our Sherpa Guide of Tybee Island and we cover the approach islands to Tybee.

Islands Near Tybee

Oatland, Whitemarsh, Wilmington and Talahi Islands

As travelers head east to Tybee Island on US 80 from Thunderbolt or the Island Expressway from downtown Savannah, visitors will cross the Wilmington River, Turner's Creek, and Bull River. On the right and left are the residential communities of Oatland, Whitemarsh, Wilmington, and Talahi islands, built on high ground in the salt marsh. Approximately 16,000 residents call these islands home. Residential construction continues on the islands and gated communities are found along various tidal creeks. As a major residential area, the islands have all the usual commercial businesses that you find anywhere else. If you are on Tybee and need a specific bank, pharmacy, or Happy Meal, Wilmington Island is probably the place to find it.



Located on Wilmington Island is the Wilmington Plantation, built in the 1920s in the Spanish style.



The Wilmington Island Club—a semi-private country club—is located here. A small shrimp fleet docks at Turners Creek Bridge.




Condos at Wilmington Plantation.

Wilmington Island Seafood Co-op, a popular fresh seafood market, is found on a short dirt road on the right on the western side of Turner Creek on Johnny Mercer Boulevard after you cross over the bridge. This is a good place to pick up fresh fish, crabs, and other tasty low country edibles.

Oatland Island Education Center

Nestled into a mixed maritime forest only 10 minutes from downtown Savannah is an environmental education center that serves as a valuable resource to the state. With 175 acres of pine and maritime forest, salt marsh, freshwater pond, and a dock to the Richardson River, Oatland Island Education Center provides an excellent outdoor classroom where students can learn about the natural communities and processes so important to the Georgia coast. The general public is also welcome to walk the hiking trails that wind through woodland and marsh, leading to exhibits of live animals that are or were native to the area including alligator, fox,



bison,



black bear, wolf,



panther (Cougar),



bobcat,



birds of prey,



and wading birds.



The trail also features a heritage homesite and a barnyard with sheep, cows, chickens, goats, and turkeys.


Pigs too.

The center is owned and operated by the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System, and is open to local and out-of-county schools. Some 20,000 public and private schoolchildren use it every year, making the signs along the entrance drive charmingly appropriate: "Slow—Children and Animals in the Road." More than 40 programs are available, including marine and estuarine ecology, invertebrate and botanical studies, freshwater pond study, endangered species, and astronomy. Kindergarten children can learn from an hour-long barn animal program, and more advanced students can use one of the two observatories that house 10- and 16-inch reflector telescopes.



A cabbage palm-lined drive leads to the impressive white-columned, brick main building that serves as headquarters, indoor laboratory, gift shop, and exhibit hall. It was built in 1927 as a retirement home for the Brotherhood of Railroad Conductors, then used as a Public Health Service hospital during World War II. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention then used it as a technical development laboratory, and when it was declared surplus in 1973, it was given to the Chatham Board of Education. The picturesque building was used in the movie The General's Daughter, starring John Travolta.



An unusual set of whale bones is on display inside the building. They are the skeletal remains of a 50-foot-long fin whale, an endangered species that washed ashore on some rock jetties on Tybee Island in 1989. Hans Neuhauser, a primary investigator of whale strandings at the time, obtained the bones for the education center.



The forests that seem such a permanent part of Oatland Island are actually second growth. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the area was cleared for a cotton plantation belonging to the McQueen family. The McQueens were made famous in Eugenia Price's novel, Don Juan McQueen, and have another island named for them near Fort Pulaski.



Fortunately, the forests have grown back, and feature natural communities worth examining. Oak, pine, and magnolia are some of the trees you will see, along with cedar, sweetgum, bay, and crape myrtle with Spanish moss. Sawtooth palmetto, yaupon holly, and winged or shining sumac are common plants. One section of forest is carpeted with green ferns, and muscadine grape vines hang in the midstory. The marsh consists of Spartina species and the more highground-preferring needlerush.



No school system funds are used for animal food, veterinary care, or construction of the habitats. These activities are supported by grants, gifts, and donations. Students volunteering in programs such as the Youth Conservation Corps and Young Adult Conservation Corps built most of the original habitats boardwalks, trails, docks, and observatories.



Directions: Exit I-95 at Exit 17A/99A and proceed to Savannah on I-16. I-16 ends at Montgomery Street. Go straight to Bay Street where you turn right. Proceed on Bay Street to the President Street Extension. This becomes Island Expressway. Approximately 1 mile after crossing the Wilmington River Bridge, look for signs to Oatland Island Education Center on right. Turn right onto Barley Drive and proceed to the main gate on left.

Dates: Open Monday through Friday 8:30–5, Saturday 10–5.

For more information: Oatland Island Education Center, 711 Sandtown Road, Savannah, GA 31410. Phone (912) 897-3773.

Oatland Island Discovery Trail

An hour and a half, comfortable walking shoes, and insect repellant are recommended for fully appreciating this nature walk. This is a chance to not only observe some common native species still found in the wild but also learn about animal species that used to roam the Southeast until they were pushed out by man. It will surprise some people to learn that bison, wolves, and panthers used to be found in Georgia.



Observing the shy animals in their enclosures requires sharp eyes, a quiet approach, and a bit of luck. Beginning at the main building, pick up a trail guide and follow the dirt path to the bird aviary. From there, the trail goes by an alligator exhibit and a panther exhibit before crossing over the marsh on an excellent boardwalk. The 500-foot wooden walkway allows nature lovers a close view of the marsh rarely afforded by boat or road. Look for marsh snails and periwinkles climbing the green stems of Spartina grass. Just past the 0.5-mile mark is the bobcat exhibit. After viewing the bobcats, the hiker goes past a fox pen before crossing the main entrance road to the aviaries where southern bald eagles and other birds are on display. These birds were crippled and brought to the center for rehabilitation. Their handicaps prevent them from surviving on their own and they remain in captivity. At the 1-mile mark, hikers will see a 2-acre compound that holds large white-tailed deer. A quarter mile from here is the heritage homesite. These traditional settler cabins of the coastal area, built circa 1837, were moved here from Wayne County (Tilman cabin) and Gumbranch, Liberty County (David Delk).



Not far from here is the 6-acre Ledbetter Pond, which is used for studying freshwater environments. Frogs and turtles are common here. Finishing up the trail are three large mammal exhibits. First is a black bear enclosure, then an easy walk to some majestic wolves that have been extirpated from the Southeast. Notice their dens dug into the earth. The final treat is a small herd of bison.


Ledbetter Pond.

Cockspur and McQueens Islands

Fort Pulaski National Monument

Fort Pulaski National Monument, located on Cockspur Island in the Savannah River before you reach Tybee Island, is one of the finest national parks in the U.S. Whether you are interested in Civil War history or want to walk the island's nature trails, Fort Pulaski is great for families and exciting to visit. While its historic value is evident, its natural communities are also worth the visitor's attention. The park is a stop on the Colonial Coast Birding Trail established by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.


Shot up pretty good on this side.

President James Madison commissioned the huge brick fort in 1816 as a reaction to the War of 1812 as one of the Third System of coastal fortifications, created when the U.S. Congress decided that the new nation needed a better system of forts to protect its harbors and cities. The British during the War of 1812 successfully attacked Washington, D.C. and burned the White House.



Pulaski was not the first fort to be built on Cockspur Island. Fort George, a palisaded blockhouse, was constructed on Cockspur Island in 1761 by John G.W. DeBrahm. Its primary purpose was to defend Savannah from the Spanish in St. Augustine. When hostilities with the Spanish died down, it remained in service as a quarantine and customs house. When the Revolutionary War broke out in 1776, Patriots abandoned and dismantled the fort. Its exact location remains a mystery. British warships seized the island and it became a refuge for Royalists who supported the British cause. One refugee was Sir James Wright, the popular royal governor of Georgia, who escaped from house arrest on February 11, 1776 in Savannah and resided here and on British man-of-wars until he fled to Nova Scotia for three-and-a-half years. After the war, Wright returned to Tybee to sail with Tories back to England.


Fort King George in Darien.

Fort Greene was built on Cockspur Island from 1794–1795 to provide defense for the new republic. In September 1804, the island was pounded by one of the most powerful hurricanes in history, obliterating all traces of the fort. According to a Charleston newspaper, the hurricane moved a 4,000-pound cannon 40 feet. The site of Fort Greene is believed to be a hammock southeast of Fort Pulaski.



Construction on Fort Pulaski began in earnest in 1829 on Cockspur Island, a marshy delta island that was chosen for its strategic location at the opening of the Savannah River. The island's name is derived from the spur-shaped reef that juts out into the northern channel of the sound. The marshy island is also known as Long Island. The island's first recorded name was Peeper Island, given to it by Gen. James Edward Oglethorpe in 1733, because as ships sailed around Tybee Island's northern shoulder, they saw the island "peeping" at them.



The fort is named for Count Casimir Pulaski, the Polish hero of the American Revolution who lost his life in the unsuccessful siege of Savannah in 1779. He died leading the French and American attack on the British who had possession of Savannah.



Designed by Gen. Simon Bernard, the structure was built by Army Corps of Engineers Captain J.F.K. Mansfield with 25 million bricks in 18 years at a cost of $1 million. A series of dikes, worked on by recent West Point graduate and Second Lieutenant Robert E. Lee from 1829–1831, was constructed to produce a protective moat and keep the fort and island dry. By the end of 1860, as southern secessionist and northern abolitionist emotions were reaching the boiling point, the fort had yet to be garrisoned or outfitted with a full complement of artillery.



On January 3, 1861, two weeks after South Carolina had seceded from the Union and one week after U.S. troops had occupied Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, Georgia militiamen seized the Federal fort. They were under orders from Governor Joseph E. Brown, even though Georgia had not yet seceded from the Union. Brown was acting to protect Savannah, a city of 20,000 that at this time was one of the most prosperous seaports in America, trading cotton, timber, and naval stores.



After the famous Georgia Secession Convention at the state capital in Milledgeville on January 19, 1861, the fort transferred to Confederate control. By the end of April, 11 southern states had left the Union and were at war with the northern states. President Abraham Lincoln ordered the naval blockade of the South as a part of his master strategy to starve and strangle the South. On November 7, 1861, U.S. forces struck Port Royal Sound, and seized Hilton Head. From here, Federal forces established a headquarters where they planned actions against Fort Pulaski and the rest of the South Atlantic coast. On November 10, 1861, intimidated Confederate forces abandoned Tybee Island, and U.S. troops under Engineer Capt. Quincy A. Gillmore established a base of operations on the island.



What happened next changed the history of modern warfare. Gillmore believed he could bombard the fort from the island with the new experimental "rifled" cannon. He and his 1,100 men spent two months dragging 36 mortars and smoothbore and rifled cannon across the marsh to establish 11 Union batteries from which to fire on the fort. Much of the backbreaking work occurred at night to hide their plans.



Fort Pulaski was commanded by Col. Charles H. Olmstead. Aware of the Federal presence on the island 1 mile away, the young commander believed the distance from Tybee to the fort protected it from serious harm. Most heavy ordnance of the day was effective at half that distance. In fact, Gen. Robert E. Lee, who had more than a passing acquaintance with the fort, told him the Federal gunners could "make it pretty warm for you here with shells, but they cannot breach your walls at that distance."



Lee was wrong. On April 10, 1862, Gillmore asked for the Confederates to surrender the fort. When Olmstead refused, the Federals opened fire. The rifled cannon were devastatingly accurate, destructive, and effective, breaching the 7.5-foot-thick walls of the southeast angle of the fort and threatening the main powder magazine. Five of the 10 rifled guns used by Federal troops were 30-pound Parrott guns, which had an effective range of 8,453 yards—much longer than conventional smooth-bore artillery. The technical innovation that made the difference were spiraled or rifled grooves on the inside of the cannon barrel and an expansion skirt or ring around the end of the projectile that gave the bullet-shaped shell a spin when fired. The spin gave the projectile increased range, accuracy, and penetrating power that doomed the Confederates inside Fort Pulaski. Olmstead surrendered the fort and his 384 men only 30 hours after the bombardment began, writing, "Guns, such as have never before been brought to bear against any fortification, have overpowered me." Gillmore was a northern hero and was breveted a brigadier general. The rifled cannons on Tybee Island ended the age of masonry forts across the globe. Once thought to be nearly invincible, brick and masonry forts were now obsolete, and rifled cannons became a technical innovation that continues to be used today by the big guns on battleships.



Fort Pulaski remained under Federal control until the end of the Civil War. On April 29, 1865, upon receiving the news that Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee had surrendered, Union troops fired 200 guns from the ramparts, symbolically marking the end of Lee's 35-year military career that had begun on Cockspur Island. A few weeks later, Confederate President Jefferson Davis was captured in Irwinville, Georgia, as he tried to flee from Union cavalry. He spent the night as a prisoner aboard a ship in the lee of Cockspur Island as he was being transported to Fortress Monroe.



By 1880, only a caretaker and lighthouse keeper remained at the fort. Eventually, the fort was completely abandoned until October 13, 1924, when the 537-acre site was made a national monument by presidential proclamation. In 1933, serious restoration began on the fort. Today, it is in excellent condition, still bearing the marks of the Federal bombardment almost 155 years ago.



The fort is fascinating to tour. A short movie at the visitor center explains what visitors are about to see. Beautiful views of the marsh from the fort's walls belie the buggy boredom, disease, and general misery troops endured while serving at the fort. Try to imagine the strenuous work involved in firing one of the heavy guns—or the dread in waiting for a responding, incoming shell. The entire perimeter of the fort offers much to see, including the damaged wall still pocked with craters and holding shot from Union artillery, to the cistern system that trapped more than 200,000 gallons of fresh water for the fort's thirsty troops. Other highlights include the surrender room ....



And the northwest magazine that held 40,000 pounds of gunpowder, and the earthen demilune system constructed from 1872–1875 based on concepts learned right here during the Civil War.



Perhaps the most impressive engineering feat of the fort is largely unseen. Building an enormously heavy masonry fort on unstable marsh required elaborate underpinnings. At the southwest bastion, an area has been left in original condition to display various construction details of the fort. Brick arches under the terreplein carry weight to counter arches in the floor that are supported by pilings that are driven 70 feet into the mud of the island. The quality of the engineering is obvious by the still-straight lines of bricks at the water edge of the fort's moat.



Directions: From Savannah, go approximately 13 miles east on US 80. Look for signs after leaving Wilmington Island. The park's entrance station is on McQueens Island on the left before you reach Lazaretto Creek.

For more information: Superintendent, Fort Pulaski National Monument, PO Box 30757, Savannah, GA 31410-0757. Phone (912) 786-5787.

Hiking and Biking Trails at Fort Pulaski National Monument

The wildlife found on Cockspur fascinated even Second Lieutenant Robert E. Lee, who made drawings of flora and fauna he found here while constructing the dike system. While the island's uplands are mostly man-made from dredge material from the Savannah River and kept artificially dry by the dike system, a mix of plant communities provide proof that in the coastal environment, given a chance, vegetation will start to take hold on any piece of high ground.


Lee drawings.

Cockspur historically was a low-lying coastal island with a few high spots that was frequently washed over by storm tides, killing plants that had little tolerance to salt water before they had a chance to become established. The draining of the island and the addition of soil has added more high ground, leading to a more ecologically diverse island. Today, along with the southern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) hammocks, Spartina, and salt flats that would have been found in Robert E. Lee's day, you also find new species such as sugarberry trees, recognized by their warty bark; shining or winged sumac, identified by the narrow leaves that grow along the step; and yaupon holly (Ilex vomitoria). The island is covered with climbing vines, including muscadine (Vitis rotundifolia), which produces an edible grape-like purple fruit that is made into jellies and wine. Several species of Smilax and Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) also grow here.



The high ground has stimulated the growth of a variety of plants that produce fruit and other food for wildlife. Many birds depend on the high-energy content of the berries, which ripen in time for the fall flight of migrants. Look for painted buntings, white-eyed vireos, and yellow-billed cuckoos. Common mammals found on the island include marsh rabbits, gray squirrels; rice, cotton and black rats; raccoons, minks, and white-tailed deer.



The dikes on the island trap fresh water important to wildlife, and frogs and the occasional alligator are seen and heard in the long canals. Frogs and toads found on the island include the southern toad, Eastern narrow-mouthed toad, green treefrog, squirrel treefrog, southern cricket frog, and southern leopard frog. Snakes include the Eastern cottonmouth, Eastern diamondback rattlesnake, rough green snake, corn snake, yellow rat snake, Eastern kingsnake, and southern black racer. Look for lizards sunning themselves such as the green anole, ground skink, southern five-lined skink and Eastern glass lizard.


Five lined skink.

Fish living in the canals include gray mullet, ladyfish, Atlantic mummichog, sheepshead minnows, sailfin molly, mosquitofish, and black seabass larvae.



The three interconnecting trails, which total three miles, are worth doing. All are nature trails, but not all are called nature trails. The longest, the 1.8-mile dike system trail, is great to experience on a bike, with many views of the surrounding marsh and glimpses of shrimp boats in Tybee Roads. Riding along the top of the dike system is a great way to appreciate the engineering efforts needed to build Fort Pulaski. Located halfway out into the marsh between the fort and Cockspur Beacon was Fort George. Today you may see a great blue heron, marsh rabbit, raccoon, or an Eastern diamondback snake. All are seen on Cockspur Island.



The 0.5-mile picnic trail (one-way), beginning across from the visitor center at the northern end of the parking lot and ending at the picnic area, takes the hiker through a maturing maritime forest consisting of alkaline-loving southern red cedar and cabbage palms.



The 0.75-mile nature trail, a loop that connects up with the picnic trail, takes the hiker through yaupon shrub and mixed shrub-juniper plant communities. Interesting plaques, placed by a local Boy Scout troop, highlight natural and human history of the area. A particular emphasis is on the medicinal qualities of the plants, with notes and recipes from Francis Porcher, who wrote The Medical Botany of the Southern States in 1889. Yaupon holly was used by Native Americans as an emetic, creating what they called the "black drink," which according to Porcher was "like opium, it excites the torpid and languid, while it calms the restless and introduces sleep."



Part of the nature trail features a religious site important to Methodists and a Spanish-American War era battery. The Wesley Memorial is where the founder of Methodism, John Wesley, preached his first sermon in the New World on February 6, 1736. Wesley, 1703–1791, spent 21 months spreading the gospel in scattered settlements in Georgia before returning to England in 1737 after a falling out with his parishioners.



This simple brick and marble column commemorates John Wesley’s landing in America on 6 February 1736. Cockspur Island was then known as Peeper Island. The founder of Methodism was sent to the fledgling Georgia colony by the trustees to be a missionary. A quote from Wesley’s journal is memorialized on the column: “Fri. 6,-About eight in the morning I first set my foot on American ground. It was a small uninhabited island,…over against Tybee, called by the English Peeper Island. Mr. Oglethorpe led us through the moorish land on the shore to a rising ground,…we chose an open place surrounded with myrtles, bays, and cedars, which sheltered us both from the sun and wind, and called our little flock together to prayers.”



Battery Hambright, located near the memorial, was part of the Fort Screven coastal fortification system intended to protect Savannah shipping lanes in anticipation of hostilities from Spain, which had a stronghold in its colony of Cuba. The battery, located inside a large protective mound of dirt, is one of six built for Fort Screven, and the only one on Cockspur Island. The battery is named for Horace George Hambright, a young officer who died in 1896 on the North Dakota frontier during the Indian wars. Construction started in June of 1899 after the Spanish-American War had ended, and the battery consisted of two 3-inch rapid-fire gun placements.


Horace George Hambright battery held three guns during Spanish American war.

Stretching across the Savannah River from the battery was a submarine minefield. It was electronically controlled by a mining casemate built in 1895 and located under a mound of earth near Fort Pulaski. The mines were anchored to the bottom of the river, but floating above them was a buoy. When passing ships struck the buoy, an electronic signal was sent to the casemate. The two or three men working in the casemate would determine if the ship was friend or foe. If the ship was an enemy, more than 500 pounds of explosives could be detonated.



At the end of a side trail is the North Pier, where supplies and men were brought in to build Fort Pulaski. Here the visitor is treated to an excellent view of the Savannah River and surrounding marsh.

Cockspur Beacon

Cockspur Beacon, also known as Little Tybee Light and South Channel Light, is one of Georgia's five remaining lighthouses. The Savannah River has two entrances or two channels, the north and the south. Cockspur Island Beacon marked the southern entrance and a twin lighthouse on Oyster Bed Island, no longer in existence, marked the northern entrance. First erected in 1849, and then rebuilt with Savannah grey brick on the original foundation in 1857, Cockspur Beacon lost importance in 1879 when many ships started using the northern channel and was deactivated in 1909 when all ships switched to using the northern channel of the Savannah River. Today, the southern channel is much more silted in than the northern channel, which is dredged. Standing 46 feet tall, with a 16-feet base, the lighthouse is situated on an oyster shell bed off the southeastern end of Cockspur Island, where it continues to be used as a daymark.



For such a small structure, the lighthouse has seen a lot of action. During the 1857 reconstruction, a keeper's house and dock facilities were added, but lightning struck the house in 1880 and in 1881 a hurricane blew it away. The lighthouse was in the line of fire when Union batteries fired upon Fort Pulaski on April 10, 1862, but luckily was not hit. Tragedy struck the second lighthouse keeper, Cornelius Maher, who drowned at the lighthouse when his boat capsized in 1853. The fourth keeper, Thomas Quinfiven, died of yellow fever after only four months of service. In 1881, George Washington Martus became the lighthouse keeper.



His sister, Florence, known as the "Waving Girl," was born on Cockspur Island and became famous for greeting every ship that passed by her home on Elba Island. She is immortalized in bronze with a statue of her on River Street on the waterfront in Savannah.



In its heyday, the beacon used a sixth order Fresnel lens, which was illuminated by an oil lamp that burned 90 gallons of sperm oil a year. Sixth order Fresnel lenses are the smallest, and mark rivers or channels. Abandoned by the U.S. Coast Guard in 1949, the beacon fell under the control of the National Park Service and today is the responsibility of Fort Pulaski National Monument. Open to the public, the lighthouse is generally surrounded by water and not accessible from Fort Pulaski. Caution: Be very careful about visiting this lighthouse. Approached at low tide by boat, adventurous souls can brave the slippery and sharp oyster shells at the base to see the beacon up-close. A slippery and crumbling internal staircase can be climbed at your own risk to the top of the lighthouse.



The old beacon is in need of restoration work and perhaps someday in the future preservation funds can be allocated to preserve this historic structure.

Old Savannah-Tybee Railroad (McQueens Island Nature Trail)

This is one of the best biking trails on the coast. A rails-to-trails conversion, the 5.8-mile trail follows the length of McQueens Island toward Savannah, following the Savannah-Tybee railroad bed. Accessed at the entrance of Fort Pulaski or at the trail's halfway point 3 miles west of the entrance on US 80, the trail consists of crushed oyster shell and limestone, which makes a nice surface for a mountain or beach bike. In 1887, Daniel G. Purse and John J. McDonough of the Savannah and Atlantic Railroad built the Savannah-Tybee Railroad, an important part of the area's history, which linked Savannah with downtown Tybrisa Pavilion.



The Central of Georgia Railway purchased the railroad in 1890 and operated it until 1933, when it was put out of business by the automobile highway that linked the island with the coast.



In history books, the hour-long rail trip is recounted with no small amount of nostalgia, telling how vacation-bound travelers, excited to get to Tybee, were kept cool even in the middle of summer with fresh marsh breezes blowing in through the windows of the train. Train tickets cost 18 cents for adults, 10 cents for children.



Today, abandoned railroad ties, pushed off the banks into the adjacent marsh, lie ignored and forgotten. But hikers and bikers can't help but be impressed with the strenuous efforts that got them here in the first place or the beautiful railroad journey railroad passengers must have enjoyed in the Roaring Twenties.



McQueens Island is defined by the south channel of Lazaretto Creek to the north, and tidal rivers Lazaretto Creek, Oyster Creek, Bull River, and St. Augustine Creek to the south. Lined with cabbage palm trees, southern red cedar, and live oaks, a hiker or biker will be treated to views of salt marsh on one side and the Savannah River on the other. Plant communities include salt marsh, high marsh, salt pan, and mixed shrub and juniper. The dominant plant in the lower elevations of the Holocene marsh, much of it growing to 6 feet in height, is Spartina alterniflora. Wildlife is plentiful. As fiddler crabs scurry out of your way, look farther down the path and you may see the shy and elusive willet (Catoptrophorous semipalmatus) crossing the road into the marsh. Hundreds of willets nest in the area.



Redwing blackbirds, great egrets, and great blue herons are commonly seen along the trail, as are Carolina diamondback terrapins, raccoons, bobcats, and an occasional Eastern diamondback rattlesnake.



Wide enough for two bikes to pass each other comfortably, the well-maintained pathway has exercise stations for joggers, picnic tables for families, and wooden platform overlooks for classes or photographers. Plaques along the way give distances and illustrate fauna commonly found in the salt marsh. At the western end of the trail, you find a beautiful live oak festooned with Spanish moss and more portable toilets. The halfway access point also has portable toilets and a paved path to a wooden deck that overlooks the marsh. Motorized vehicles are prohibited on the trail.



Trail: The trail is 5.8 miles one-way. Access is gained at one end at the Fort Pulaski National Monument entrance, or the halfway point 3 miles west of the entrance on US 80 just past Bull River. Suitable for mountain bikes.



Now we get to Tybee Island, the most densely developed barrier island on the Georgia coast, consequently lacks most of the natural communities found on Georgia's other barrier islands because of past use and poorly planned development. Here you have renourished beach on the eastern side, dunes with sea oats and pioneer plants at the northern and middle beach areas, and salt marsh on the Back River. That's not to say Tybee Island doesn't have its own unique appeal. The island is a good place to stay to walk the beach, bird watch, go fishing, ride a bike, and take easy day trips to nearby attractions, including the city of Savannah. Tybee is also loaded with fascinating characters, excellent fishing, gorgeous views, and cold mixed drinks. If Ernest Hemingway were alive today, he might be living and writing books on Tybee.



One reason Tybee Island is significant is that it is one of only four of Georgia's 15 major barrier islands that can reached by car, which has been true since 1923. DOT plans call for making four lanes of US 80, the transportation artery linking Tybee and Savannah, which means even more cars, visitors, and development are in the future of this small island. Tybee is Georgia's northernmost and 11th-largest barrier island, measuring approximately 2.5 miles long by 0.75 mile wide. The Holocene island consists of 3,100 acres, of which 1,500 acres are uplands. Nearly 3.5 miles of beach runs roughly north and south before curving toward Savannah at the north end, where it reaches the Savannah River. Across the river and Tybee Roads (the busy shipping mouth of the river) lies South Carolina and Daufuskie and Hilton Head islands. Tybee Island has a permanent resident population of 3,000, which swells on summer weekends to 30,000.



Early in Georgia's history, Tybee Island was recognized as a strategic piece of land to protect the port of Savannah. At different periods of Georgia and U.S. history, lighthouses were erected on the northern end to guide ships and coastal forts were built and manned to protect the coast. The last lighthouse is still in use, and the last military installation called Fort Screven—an active base from 1(912) 897 to 1945—is now a national historic district, with some of the fort's emplacements and structures used as homes, garages, apartments, and a museum.



It is hard to walk far on Tybee Island without making a friend of a local, who will regale you with what I call "True Tybee Tales." Some locals relish calling their town the "Redneck Riviera" or "Truckstop by the Sea," but Tybee's local color is actually more diverse than these monikers suggest. Very rich and very poor families, surfers and soldiers, old timers and babies, straights and gays, Yankees and rednecks, environmentalists and litterbugs, blacks and whites, the beautiful and not-so-beautiful, all democratically share Tybee's beaches in close quarters without seeming to notice one another. You quickly realize that you are not strolling the exclusive beach at Sea Island. This is not to say that there's perfect harmony among the locals. Islanders pack the seats at city council meetings, which are considered "must-see" entertainment. Epic political battles are waged over stop signs, barking dogs, and other matters of national significance.



Those looking for controlled-access communities, plush golf courses, and color-coordinated housing and residents need to look elsewhere because Tybee proudly embraces what locals call "Tybee Tacky." Take a stroll through the local legend department store bouillabaisse that is T.S. Chu's and I guarantee you won't be confused that you are in Neiman Marcus. One popular establishment, Earl's, remains prepared for any holiday by leaving all its decorations—Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas—on display just in case. Status on Tybee goes to the person who has the most rustproof rims on his or her beach bicycle. Not that there isn't money on the island. You just can't tell by the locals' footwear, which is more frequently bare feet than Bruno Maglis. No one's absolutely certain where the name "Tybee" originated. In the Yuchi Indian language, tybee means "salt." Some believe the name came from a Choctaw chief named Iti ubi, which means "wood killer." Some believe the name came from the corruption of the word "tabby," a oystershell-limestone mix that was used as a construction material by early colonists on the Georgia coast. Tybee, sometimes spelled Tiby on early maps, was first incorporated in 1887 as the town of Ocean City, and was known as Savannah Beach during its heyday as a resort for the city of Savannah. Today, it is incorporated as the town of Tybee.



Tomorrow we turn to the rest of Tybee Island proper, Sherpa Guide to Tybee Island, North Beach, and South Beach.


I think we have a whole gaggle of Georgia Natural Wonder gals for today.