Sapelo Island is a state-protected
islandAn island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
located in
McIntosh County, GeorgiaMcIntosh County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is part of the Brunswick, Georgia, Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of McIntosh, Glynn, and Brantley counties. As of 2010, the population is 14,333. The county seat is Darien.-History:McIntosh County was split...
. The island is reachable only by airplane or boat, with the primary
ferryA ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
coming from the Sapelo Island Visitors Center in McIntosh County, Georgia, a seven mile (11 km), twenty-minute trip.
Approximately 97 percent of the island is owned by the State of Georgia and is managed by the
Georgia Department of Natural ResourcesThe Georgia Department of Natural Resources is an administrative agency of the U.S. state of Georgia. The agency has statewide responsibilities for managing and conserving Georgia’s natural, cultural, and historical resources, and is divided into six divisions:...
; the remaining is under private ownership. The western perimeter of Sapelo is the Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve (SINERR) which is part of NOAA's National Estuarine Research Reserve system (NERR). The
University of Georgia Marine InstituteThe University of Georgia Marine Institute is a nearshore ecological and geological research institute located on Sapelo Island off the coast of Georgia in the United States....
, which is focused on research and education, is located on 1500 acres (6.1 km²) on the south end of the island. The Reynold's Mansion, a Georgia State Park, also lies on the south end of the island. Visitors to the island must be a part of an organized tour or guests of residents on the island. The island also has a small private airport run by the State of Georgia.
Hog Hammock
The community of Hog Hammock includes a general store, bar, and other small businesses. There are two active churches in the town, including
First African Baptist Church at Raccoon BluffFirst African Baptist Church at Raccoon Bluff is a historic church in Hog Hammock, Georgia.It was built in 1900 and added to the National Register in 1996....
. Most inhabitants of the town are
African AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s, part of the
GullahThe Gullah are African Americans who live in the Lowcountry region of South Carolina and Georgia, which includes both the coastal plain and the Sea Islands....
or
Geechee community, and have been living on the island for generations. The current population in the community is estimated to be 47 (2009). The residents must bring over all supplies from the mainland or purchase them in the small store on the island. The children of Hog Hammock take the ferry to the mainland and take a bus to school, as its own school closed in 1978.
History
Sapelo Island is speculated to be the site of
San Miguel de GualdapeSan Miguel de Gualdape was the first European settlement inside what is now United States territory, founded by Spaniard Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón in 1526. It was to last only three months of winter before being abandoned in early 1527....
, the short-lived first European settlement in present-day U.S.
During the 17th century Sapelo Island was part of the
GualeGuale was an historic Native American chiefdom along the coast of present-day Georgia and the Sea Islands. Spanish Florida established its Roman Catholic missionary system in the chiefdom in the late 16th century. During the late 17th century and early 18th century, Guale society was shattered...
missionary province of
Spanish FloridaSpanish Florida refers to the Spanish territory of Florida, which formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and the Spanish Empire. Originally extending over what is now the southeastern United States, but with no defined boundaries, la Florida was a component of...
. After 1680, several missions were merged and relocated to the island under the mission
Santa Catalina de GualeSanta Catalina de Guale was a Spanish Franciscan mission and town in Spanish Florida. Part of Spain's effort to convert the Native Americans to Catholicism, Santa Catalina served as the provincial headquarters of the Guale mission province. It also served various non-religious functions, such as...
.
In the early 19th century
Thomas SpaldingThomas Spalding was a United States Representative from Georgia. He was born in Frederica, St. Simons Island, Glynn County, Georgia. He attended the common schools of Georgia and Florida and a private school in Massachusetts. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1795, but did not practice...
, a future
Georgia SenatorThe Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly .-Composition:According to the state constitution of 1983, this body is to be composed of no more than 56 members elected for two-year terms. Current state law provides for 56 members...
and
U.S. RepresentativeThe United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
, bought the island and developed it into a
plantationA plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
, selling live oak for shipbuilding, introduced irrigation ditches, and cultivated Sea Island Cotton, corn, and sugar cane. Spalding brought 400
slavesSlavery in the United States was a form of slave labor which existed as a legal institution in North America for more than a century before the founding of the United States in 1776, and continued mostly in the South until the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in...
to the island from
West AfricaWest Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
and the West Indies to work the plantation and build what would become the Spalding Mansion.
In 1820, a
Winslow LewisWinslow Lewis was a sea captain, engineer, inventor and contractor active in the construction of many American lighthouses during the first half of the nineteenth century....
brick
lighthouseSapelo Island Lighthouse is a lighthouse in Georgia,United States, near the southern tip of Sapelo Island, Georgia. It is the nation's second-oldest brick lighthouse and the oldest survivor of Winslow Lewis lighthouse projects.- History :...
was built on the island. Although it remained dark for over ninety years, it was rebuilt and relit in 1998.
Spalding opposed the abolishment of slavery and died in 1851 on his way back from a convention to assert Georgia's position on the matter. When freed, the former slaves established several settlements on the island; the last remaining is Hog Hammock with approximately seventy remaining land owners. During the
Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, the Spalding home was vandalized heavily and lay in ruins.
By the early 20th century the International Road Races were attracting notables from the motor world to Savannah. One attendee was
Howard E. CoffinHoward Earle Coffin was an American engineer and industrialist. He was one of the founders of the Hudson Motor Car Company with Roy D. Chapin...
, founder of the Hudson Motor Company in Detroit. Coffin purchased all of the island, save for the land owned by the former slaves, for $150,000 in 1912. Like Spalding, the Coffins embarked on numerous projects. Miles of shell-covered roads were laid, creeks were bridged, old fields were cultivated and large tracts were set aside for cattle grazing. The Coffins also renovated and enlarged the Spalding house, creating an island paradise unsurpassed on the coast. Former presidents
Calvin CoolidgeJohn Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
and
Herbert HooverHerbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
as well as aviator
Charles LindberghCharles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...
were guests in the home.
R. J. Reynolds, Jr., of R. J. Reynolds Tobacco, bought Sapelo during the
Great DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
in 1933 and continued the tradition of agricultural experimentation of the previous owners. Reynolds and his family used the island as a part-time residence for three decades, consolidating the island's African-American residents into Hog Hammock and establishing the basis for the university research facilities. In 1965, Reynolds' widow sold their stake to the state of Georgia, and the mansion takes its name from its final private owner.
Tourism
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) offers tours several days a week. These can be booked through the Sapelo Island Visitors Center. Additionally, many island residents offer private tours which can often be customized to fit the interests of individual tourists. A state campground is also available to groups of 15-25 people on Cabretta Island (adjacent to Sapelo Island).
In popular culture
Author
Tom PolandTom Poland was born in Augusta, Georgia, as Thomas Mitchell Poland to John Mitchell Poland and Ruth Walker Poland. He graduated from Lincoln High School in Lincolnton, Georgia. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and a Masters in Education from the University of Georgia.A frequent...
wrote a novel entitled
Forbidden Island ... An Island Called Sapelo (ISBN 1425992021).
Singer Larry Jon Wilson has recorded a song entitled "Sapelo" which is about the island on the album
Testifying - The Country Soul Revue. Author T. C. Boyle set his 1990 novel
East is East on a fictional island in Georgia, much of which resembles Sapelo Island, such as the presence of Hog Hammock and proximity to Darien.
An episode of Season 6 of the
Discovery ChannelDiscovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
show
Dirty JobsDirty Jobs is a program on the Discovery Channel, produced by Pilgrim Films & Television, in which host Mike Rowe is shown performing difficult, strange, disgusting, or messy occupational duties alongside the typical employees. The show premiered with two pilot episodes in November 2003...
featured the
termiteTermites are a group of eusocial insects that, until recently, were classified at the taxonomic rank of order Isoptera , but are now accepted as the epifamily Termitoidae, of the cockroach order Blattodea...
research program at the
University of Georgia Marine InstituteThe University of Georgia Marine Institute is a nearshore ecological and geological research institute located on Sapelo Island off the coast of Georgia in the United States....
on Sapelo Island.
External links
{{redirect|Sapelo|the village in Burkina Faso|Sapelo, Burkina Faso}}
Sapelo Island (icon) is a state-protected
islandAn island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
located in
McIntosh County, GeorgiaMcIntosh County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is part of the Brunswick, Georgia, Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of McIntosh, Glynn, and Brantley counties. As of 2010, the population is 14,333. The county seat is Darien.-History:McIntosh County was split...
. The island is reachable only by airplane or boat, with the primary
ferryA ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
coming from the Sapelo Island Visitors Center in McIntosh County, Georgia, a seven mile (11 km), twenty-minute trip.
Approximately 97 percent of the island is owned by the State of Georgia and is managed by the
Georgia Department of Natural ResourcesThe Georgia Department of Natural Resources is an administrative agency of the U.S. state of Georgia. The agency has statewide responsibilities for managing and conserving Georgia’s natural, cultural, and historical resources, and is divided into six divisions:...
; the remaining is under private ownership. The western perimeter of Sapelo is the Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve (SINERR) which is part of NOAA's National Estuarine Research Reserve system (NERR). The
University of Georgia Marine InstituteThe University of Georgia Marine Institute is a nearshore ecological and geological research institute located on Sapelo Island off the coast of Georgia in the United States....
, which is focused on research and education, is located on 1500 acres (6.1 km²) on the south end of the island. The Reynold's Mansion, a Georgia State Park, also lies on the south end of the island. Visitors to the island must be a part of an organized tour or guests of residents on the island. The island also has a small private airport run by the State of Georgia.
Hog Hammock
The community of Hog Hammock includes a general store, bar, and other small businesses. There are two active churches in the town, including
First African Baptist Church at Raccoon BluffFirst African Baptist Church at Raccoon Bluff is a historic church in Hog Hammock, Georgia.It was built in 1900 and added to the National Register in 1996....
. Most inhabitants of the town are
African AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s, part of the
GullahThe Gullah are African Americans who live in the Lowcountry region of South Carolina and Georgia, which includes both the coastal plain and the Sea Islands....
or
Geechee community, and have been living on the island for generations. The current population in the community is estimated to be 47 (2009). The residents must bring over all supplies from the mainland or purchase them in the small store on the island. The children of Hog Hammock take the ferry to the mainland and take a bus to school, as its own school closed in 1978.
History
Sapelo Island is speculated to be the site of
San Miguel de GualdapeSan Miguel de Gualdape was the first European settlement inside what is now United States territory, founded by Spaniard Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón in 1526. It was to last only three months of winter before being abandoned in early 1527....
, the short-lived first European settlement in present-day U.S.
During the 17th century Sapelo Island was part of the
GualeGuale was an historic Native American chiefdom along the coast of present-day Georgia and the Sea Islands. Spanish Florida established its Roman Catholic missionary system in the chiefdom in the late 16th century. During the late 17th century and early 18th century, Guale society was shattered...
missionary province of
Spanish FloridaSpanish Florida refers to the Spanish territory of Florida, which formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and the Spanish Empire. Originally extending over what is now the southeastern United States, but with no defined boundaries, la Florida was a component of...
. After 1680, several missions were merged and relocated to the island under the mission
Santa Catalina de GualeSanta Catalina de Guale was a Spanish Franciscan mission and town in Spanish Florida. Part of Spain's effort to convert the Native Americans to Catholicism, Santa Catalina served as the provincial headquarters of the Guale mission province. It also served various non-religious functions, such as...
.
In the early 19th century
Thomas SpaldingThomas Spalding was a United States Representative from Georgia. He was born in Frederica, St. Simons Island, Glynn County, Georgia. He attended the common schools of Georgia and Florida and a private school in Massachusetts. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1795, but did not practice...
, a future
Georgia SenatorThe Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly .-Composition:According to the state constitution of 1983, this body is to be composed of no more than 56 members elected for two-year terms. Current state law provides for 56 members...
and
U.S. RepresentativeThe United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
, bought the island and developed it into a
plantationA plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
, selling live oak for shipbuilding, introduced irrigation ditches, and cultivated Sea Island Cotton, corn, and sugar cane. Spalding brought 400
slavesSlavery in the United States was a form of slave labor which existed as a legal institution in North America for more than a century before the founding of the United States in 1776, and continued mostly in the South until the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in...
to the island from
West AfricaWest Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
and the West Indies to work the plantation and build what would become the Spalding Mansion.
In 1820, a
Winslow LewisWinslow Lewis was a sea captain, engineer, inventor and contractor active in the construction of many American lighthouses during the first half of the nineteenth century....
brick
lighthouseSapelo Island Lighthouse is a lighthouse in Georgia,United States, near the southern tip of Sapelo Island, Georgia. It is the nation's second-oldest brick lighthouse and the oldest survivor of Winslow Lewis lighthouse projects.- History :...
was built on the island. Although it remained dark for over ninety years, it was rebuilt and relit in 1998.
Spalding opposed the abolishment of slavery and died in 1851 on his way back from a convention to assert Georgia's position on the matter. When freed, the former slaves established several settlements on the island; the last remaining is Hog Hammock with approximately seventy remaining land owners. During the
Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, the Spalding home was vandalized heavily and lay in ruins.
By the early 20th century the International Road Races were attracting notables from the motor world to Savannah. One attendee was
Howard E. CoffinHoward Earle Coffin was an American engineer and industrialist. He was one of the founders of the Hudson Motor Car Company with Roy D. Chapin...
, founder of the Hudson Motor Company in Detroit. Coffin purchased all of the island, save for the land owned by the former slaves, for $150,000 in 1912. Like Spalding, the Coffins embarked on numerous projects. Miles of shell-covered roads were laid, creeks were bridged, old fields were cultivated and large tracts were set aside for cattle grazing. The Coffins also renovated and enlarged the Spalding house, creating an island paradise unsurpassed on the coast. Former presidents
Calvin CoolidgeJohn Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
and
Herbert HooverHerbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
as well as aviator
Charles LindberghCharles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...
were guests in the home.
R. J. Reynolds, Jr., of R. J. Reynolds Tobacco, bought Sapelo during the
Great DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
in 1933 and continued the tradition of agricultural experimentation of the previous owners. Reynolds and his family used the island as a part-time residence for three decades, consolidating the island's African-American residents into Hog Hammock and establishing the basis for the university research facilities. In 1965, Reynolds' widow sold their stake to the state of Georgia, and the mansion takes its name from its final private owner.
Tourism
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) offers tours several days a week. These can be booked through the Sapelo Island Visitors Center. Additionally, many island residents offer private tours which can often be customized to fit the interests of individual tourists. A state campground is also available to groups of 15-25 people on Cabretta Island (adjacent to Sapelo Island).
In popular culture
Author
Tom PolandTom Poland was born in Augusta, Georgia, as Thomas Mitchell Poland to John Mitchell Poland and Ruth Walker Poland. He graduated from Lincoln High School in Lincolnton, Georgia. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and a Masters in Education from the University of Georgia.A frequent...
wrote a novel entitled
Forbidden Island ... An Island Called Sapelo (ISBN 1425992021).
Singer Larry Jon Wilson has recorded a song entitled "Sapelo" which is about the island on the album
Testifying - The Country Soul Revue. Author T. C. Boyle set his 1990 novel
East is East on a fictional island in Georgia, much of which resembles Sapelo Island, such as the presence of Hog Hammock and proximity to Darien.
An episode of Season 6 of the
Discovery ChannelDiscovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
show
Dirty JobsDirty Jobs is a program on the Discovery Channel, produced by Pilgrim Films & Television, in which host Mike Rowe is shown performing difficult, strange, disgusting, or messy occupational duties alongside the typical employees. The show premiered with two pilot episodes in November 2003...
featured the
termiteTermites are a group of eusocial insects that, until recently, were classified at the taxonomic rank of order Isoptera , but are now accepted as the epifamily Termitoidae, of the cockroach order Blattodea...
research program at the
University of Georgia Marine InstituteThe University of Georgia Marine Institute is a nearshore ecological and geological research institute located on Sapelo Island off the coast of Georgia in the United States....
on Sapelo Island.
External links
{{Georgia state parks}}
{{redirect|Sapelo|the village in Burkina Faso|Sapelo, Burkina Faso}}
Sapelo Island (icon) is a state-protected
islandAn island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
located in
McIntosh County, GeorgiaMcIntosh County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is part of the Brunswick, Georgia, Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of McIntosh, Glynn, and Brantley counties. As of 2010, the population is 14,333. The county seat is Darien.-History:McIntosh County was split...
. The island is reachable only by airplane or boat, with the primary
ferryA ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
coming from the Sapelo Island Visitors Center in McIntosh County, Georgia, a seven mile (11 km), twenty-minute trip.
Approximately 97 percent of the island is owned by the State of Georgia and is managed by the
Georgia Department of Natural ResourcesThe Georgia Department of Natural Resources is an administrative agency of the U.S. state of Georgia. The agency has statewide responsibilities for managing and conserving Georgia’s natural, cultural, and historical resources, and is divided into six divisions:...
; the remaining is under private ownership. The western perimeter of Sapelo is the Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve (SINERR) which is part of NOAA's National Estuarine Research Reserve system (NERR). The
University of Georgia Marine InstituteThe University of Georgia Marine Institute is a nearshore ecological and geological research institute located on Sapelo Island off the coast of Georgia in the United States....
, which is focused on research and education, is located on 1500 acres (6.1 km²) on the south end of the island. The Reynold's Mansion, a Georgia State Park, also lies on the south end of the island. Visitors to the island must be a part of an organized tour or guests of residents on the island. The island also has a small private airport run by the State of Georgia.
Hog Hammock
The community of Hog Hammock includes a general store, bar, and other small businesses. There are two active churches in the town, including
First African Baptist Church at Raccoon BluffFirst African Baptist Church at Raccoon Bluff is a historic church in Hog Hammock, Georgia.It was built in 1900 and added to the National Register in 1996....
. Most inhabitants of the town are
African AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s, part of the
GullahThe Gullah are African Americans who live in the Lowcountry region of South Carolina and Georgia, which includes both the coastal plain and the Sea Islands....
or
Geechee community, and have been living on the island for generations. The current population in the community is estimated to be 47 (2009). The residents must bring over all supplies from the mainland or purchase them in the small store on the island. The children of Hog Hammock take the ferry to the mainland and take a bus to school, as its own school closed in 1978.
History
Sapelo Island is speculated to be the site of
San Miguel de GualdapeSan Miguel de Gualdape was the first European settlement inside what is now United States territory, founded by Spaniard Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón in 1526. It was to last only three months of winter before being abandoned in early 1527....
, the short-lived first European settlement in present-day U.S.
During the 17th century Sapelo Island was part of the
GualeGuale was an historic Native American chiefdom along the coast of present-day Georgia and the Sea Islands. Spanish Florida established its Roman Catholic missionary system in the chiefdom in the late 16th century. During the late 17th century and early 18th century, Guale society was shattered...
missionary province of
Spanish FloridaSpanish Florida refers to the Spanish territory of Florida, which formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and the Spanish Empire. Originally extending over what is now the southeastern United States, but with no defined boundaries, la Florida was a component of...
. After 1680, several missions were merged and relocated to the island under the mission
Santa Catalina de GualeSanta Catalina de Guale was a Spanish Franciscan mission and town in Spanish Florida. Part of Spain's effort to convert the Native Americans to Catholicism, Santa Catalina served as the provincial headquarters of the Guale mission province. It also served various non-religious functions, such as...
.
In the early 19th century
Thomas SpaldingThomas Spalding was a United States Representative from Georgia. He was born in Frederica, St. Simons Island, Glynn County, Georgia. He attended the common schools of Georgia and Florida and a private school in Massachusetts. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1795, but did not practice...
, a future
Georgia SenatorThe Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly .-Composition:According to the state constitution of 1983, this body is to be composed of no more than 56 members elected for two-year terms. Current state law provides for 56 members...
and
U.S. RepresentativeThe United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
, bought the island and developed it into a
plantationA plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
, selling live oak for shipbuilding, introduced irrigation ditches, and cultivated Sea Island Cotton, corn, and sugar cane. Spalding brought 400
slavesSlavery in the United States was a form of slave labor which existed as a legal institution in North America for more than a century before the founding of the United States in 1776, and continued mostly in the South until the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in...
to the island from
West AfricaWest Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
and the West Indies to work the plantation and build what would become the Spalding Mansion.
In 1820, a
Winslow LewisWinslow Lewis was a sea captain, engineer, inventor and contractor active in the construction of many American lighthouses during the first half of the nineteenth century....
brick
lighthouseSapelo Island Lighthouse is a lighthouse in Georgia,United States, near the southern tip of Sapelo Island, Georgia. It is the nation's second-oldest brick lighthouse and the oldest survivor of Winslow Lewis lighthouse projects.- History :...
was built on the island. Although it remained dark for over ninety years, it was rebuilt and relit in 1998.
Spalding opposed the abolishment of slavery and died in 1851 on his way back from a convention to assert Georgia's position on the matter. When freed, the former slaves established several settlements on the island; the last remaining is Hog Hammock with approximately seventy remaining land owners. During the
Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, the Spalding home was vandalized heavily and lay in ruins.
By the early 20th century the International Road Races were attracting notables from the motor world to Savannah. One attendee was
Howard E. CoffinHoward Earle Coffin was an American engineer and industrialist. He was one of the founders of the Hudson Motor Car Company with Roy D. Chapin...
, founder of the Hudson Motor Company in Detroit. Coffin purchased all of the island, save for the land owned by the former slaves, for $150,000 in 1912. Like Spalding, the Coffins embarked on numerous projects. Miles of shell-covered roads were laid, creeks were bridged, old fields were cultivated and large tracts were set aside for cattle grazing. The Coffins also renovated and enlarged the Spalding house, creating an island paradise unsurpassed on the coast. Former presidents
Calvin CoolidgeJohn Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
and
Herbert HooverHerbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
as well as aviator
Charles LindberghCharles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...
were guests in the home.
R. J. Reynolds, Jr., of R. J. Reynolds Tobacco, bought Sapelo during the
Great DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
in 1933 and continued the tradition of agricultural experimentation of the previous owners. Reynolds and his family used the island as a part-time residence for three decades, consolidating the island's African-American residents into Hog Hammock and establishing the basis for the university research facilities. In 1965, Reynolds' widow sold their stake to the state of Georgia, and the mansion takes its name from its final private owner.
Tourism
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) offers tours several days a week. These can be booked through the Sapelo Island Visitors Center. Additionally, many island residents offer private tours which can often be customized to fit the interests of individual tourists. A state campground is also available to groups of 15-25 people on Cabretta Island (adjacent to Sapelo Island).
In popular culture
Author
Tom PolandTom Poland was born in Augusta, Georgia, as Thomas Mitchell Poland to John Mitchell Poland and Ruth Walker Poland. He graduated from Lincoln High School in Lincolnton, Georgia. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and a Masters in Education from the University of Georgia.A frequent...
wrote a novel entitled
Forbidden Island ... An Island Called Sapelo (ISBN 1425992021).
Singer Larry Jon Wilson has recorded a song entitled "Sapelo" which is about the island on the album
Testifying - The Country Soul Revue. Author T. C. Boyle set his 1990 novel
East is East on a fictional island in Georgia, much of which resembles Sapelo Island, such as the presence of Hog Hammock and proximity to Darien.
An episode of Season 6 of the
Discovery ChannelDiscovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
show
Dirty JobsDirty Jobs is a program on the Discovery Channel, produced by Pilgrim Films & Television, in which host Mike Rowe is shown performing difficult, strange, disgusting, or messy occupational duties alongside the typical employees. The show premiered with two pilot episodes in November 2003...
featured the
termiteTermites are a group of eusocial insects that, until recently, were classified at the taxonomic rank of order Isoptera , but are now accepted as the epifamily Termitoidae, of the cockroach order Blattodea...
research program at the
University of Georgia Marine InstituteThe University of Georgia Marine Institute is a nearshore ecological and geological research institute located on Sapelo Island off the coast of Georgia in the United States....
on Sapelo Island.
External links
{{Georgia state parks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sapelo Island}]