Gascoigne Bluff is a
bluff next to the
Frederica River on the western side of the island of
St. Simons, Georgia
St. Simons Island (or simply St. Simons) is a barrier island and census-designated place (CDP) located on St. Simons Island in Glynn County, Georgia, Glynn County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. The names of the community and the ...
which was a
Native American campground, the site of a
Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...
monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...
named San Buenaventura, and the site of the
Province of Georgia
The Province of Georgia (also Georgia Colony) was one of the Southern Colonies in colonial-era British America. In 1775 it was the last of the Thirteen Colonies to support the American Revolution.
The original land grant of the Province of G ...
's first naval base.
It was named for Captain
James Gascoigne of the
sloop-of-war
During the 18th and 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship of the Royal Navy with a single gun deck that carried up to 18 guns. The rating system of the Royal Navy covered all vessels with 20 or more guns; thus, the term encompassed all u ...
,
HMS ''Hawk'', which led some of the first
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
settlers to the coast of Georgia.
Timber harvested from 2,000
Southern live oak
''Quercus virginiana'', also known as the southern live oak, is an evergreen oak tree endemic to the Southeastern United States. Though many other species are loosely called live oak, the southern live oak is particularly iconic of the Old South. ...
trees from Gascoigne Bluff was used to build the
USS ''Constitution'' and the five other
original US Navy frigates, under the
Naval Act of 1794. The ''Constitution'' is known as "Old Ironsides" for the way the cannonballs bounced off the hard oak planking.
This area was one of several St. Simons Island plantations owned by John Couper (father of
James Hamilton Couper, see below) who lived at Cannon Point, St. Simons Island, and who donated his library of 20,000 volumes to the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
.
File:Gascoigne Bluff view, St. Simons, GA, US.jpg, View from the bluff
File:Gascoigne bluff marker, St. Simons, GA, US.JPG, Historical marker
File:Gascoigne Bluff marker, St. Simons, GA, USA.JPG, Marker
Hamilton Plantation
The remains of this
antebellum-era plantation
Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...
contain two surviving
slave cabins, which were part of a set of four built before 1833. Among the better examples of surviving slave cabins in the
South
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
, they are composed of
tabby
A tabby cat, or simply tabby, is any domestic cat (''Felis catus'') with a coat pattern distinguished by an M-shaped marking on its forehead, stripes by its eyes and across its cheeks, along its back, around its legs and tail, and characteris ...
, a cement consisting of lime, water, and crushed oyster shells. The cabins have built-in windows and a central chimney.
James Hamilton Couper, namesake of the owner and manager of the plantation, was an
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
and a builder. He designed and built the cabins to house the slaves who served in the plantation's main house. Utilizing a duplex plan to house more than one family, the cabins were originally part of a planned community of slave dwellings.
The Hamilton Plantation and Gasciogne Bluff were sold after the
Civil War
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
to
Anson Dodge and the Georgia Land and Lumber Company of New York in 1874 to erect lumber mills.
The Cassina Garden Club owns the cabins and offers tours on Wednesday mornings in June through August. The cabins are near Arthur J. Moore Drive.
See also
*
Further reading
*
References
External links
Cassina Garden Clubowns the Hamilton Plantation slave cabins and provides tours.
*The National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...
maintain
a web page about Hamilton Plantation.Cassina Garden Club slave cabinsCassina Garden Club Houses
historical marker
Hamilton Plantation
historical marker
*
{{coord, 31, 10, 01, N, 81, 24, 41, W, type:landmark_region:US-GA, display=title
Slave cabins and quarters in the United States
Landforms of Glynn County, Georgia
Cliffs of Georgia (U.S. state)
Plantations in Georgia (U.S. state)
St. Simons, Georgia