Cumberland Island

Cumberland Island, Georgia Is One Of The Top Attractions In The State

Cumberland Island is one of the "Sea Islands" which are a barrier chain of over 100 small islands that lie off the east coast of American beginning off the state of South Carolina and stretching as far south as Florida.

Cumberland is the largest of the islands situated off Georgia and covers around 36,415 acres.

Its eastern shore is a continuous beach over 17 miles long while the west coast is mainly large areas of salt marsh.

The island can only be reached by private boat or by a ferry which runs from the town of St. Marys which is very close to the Crooked River State Park.

The island is home to some interesting wildlife including deer, squirrels, armadillos, wild boar and the American alligator. However, it is for the wild horses that roam free across the island that Cumberland is most famous.

Wild Horses On The Island`s Beach

The Sea Islands, including Cumberland, were inhabited for hundreds of years firstly by indigenous peoples and then in the 16th and 17th centuries by Spanish missionaries who arrived to gain converts from the natives.

James Oglethorpe

One of the first Englishmen to reach the island was General James Oglethorpe who arrived in 1733. He built a hunting lodge which he named Dungeness after a site in southern England. He also had two forts built at either end of the island as a protection against the Spanish who were still present in Florida to the south. By the 1740`s any remaining threat from the Spanish had disappeared so the need to man the forts was unnecessary. By the 1770`s the island was virtually uninhabited.

Nathaniel Greene

In 1783 a hero of the Revolutionary War, Nathaniel Greene bought land on the island to harvest timber for ship building. In fact wood from Cumberland was used in the building of a famous American ship, USS Constitution which was nicknamed "Old Ironsides."

Nathaniel Greene sadly died in 1786 but his wife Catherine remarried ten years later and built a huge four storey mansion which she named Dungeness after the hunting lodge that General Oglethorpe had built much earlier. The house became the site for many glittering social events as business leaders and statesmen visited Catherine and her new husband, Phineas Miller.

The Millers established a plantation and were among the first to grow the valuable Sea Island cotton, at one stage they had over 200 slaves working their land. However, after the American Civil War and the freeing of the slaves the plantation proved unprofitable and the magnificent house was abandoned and unfortunately burnt down in 1866.

A Beautiful Shaded Path On The Island

The Carnegie Family

Then in the 1880`s Thomas M. Carnegie, the brother of the steel magnate, bought land on Cumberland Island and built an enormous mansion on the site of Dungeness. It was styled after a Scottish castle and had 59 rooms, swimming pools and a golf course. There were also forty other smaller buildings which housed their 200 servants!

Carnegie died before the house was finished and the last time it was used was for a family wedding in 1929. After the Great Depression the family left the island and the mansion was empty. In 1959 it was burnt in a suspected arson attack.

The Ruins Of The Carnegie Mansion On Cumberland Island

The Carnegie family owned virtually the whole island and had built other estates. For example, Greyfield was constructed in 1900 and is now a private inn. Plum Orchard was donated to the National Park Service in 1972 and the Stafford Plantation is derelict.

In 1954 the family invited the National Park Service (NPS) to assess the island with a view to adopting it into the parks system. Following the assessment the NPS named Cumberland as one of the most significant natural areas in the United States. Eventually in 1971 the U.S. Congress established the Cumberland Island National Seashore and today most of the island is owned by the NPS.

The public are able to visit the island but access is limited to 300 people on the island at any one time. Cumberland Island camping is restricted to no more than seven nights. Access is via a ferry from St. Marys on the Georgia mainland or by private boat.

One obvious attraction is the stunning 17 mile Cumberland Island beach on the east of the island. Cars and bikes can`t be brought to the island, however, bikes can be rented at the dock as you arrive. That way their numbers are limited and any damage to the environment is reduced.

The Dungeness Pier On Cumberland Island, GA

It really is an amazing place to visit, but do remember that as there are no stores, if you plan to camp, all food and drink must be brought from the mainland.

Return From Cumberland Island to Crooked River State Park
Return From Cumberland Island to Georgia State Parks