Virtually untouched for centuries, Little St. Simons Island is a barrier island located on the coast of the US state of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, and is one of the least developed of Georgia's Golden Isles. The island covers an area of and boasts of beaches. Little St. Simons Island is located slightly east and north of

St. Simons Island 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, United States. The names of the community and the island are interchangeable, known simply as ...

and Sea Island. It is separated from these islands by the

Hampton River The Hampton River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 tidal estuary which empties into Hampton Roads near its mouth. Hampton Roads in turn empties into the ...

and from the marshes of the mainland by Buttermilk Sound. The mouth of the

Altamaha River The Altamaha River is a major river in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It flows generally eastward for from its Source (river or stream), origin at the confluence of the Oconee River and Ocmulgee River towards the Atlantic Oce ...

opens directly north of the island. The island's continuous growth can be attributed to sediment deposited by the undammed Altamaha. The island has been privately owned since 1760, and was the Berolzheimer family's private retreat from 1908 until the late 1970s when they opened the Lodge on Little St. Simons. Today, the island remains accessible only by boat, and anyone wishing to visit the island must make arrangements through the lodge office. The Lodge on Little St. Simons provides all-inclusive, overnight accommodations for up to 32 guests. Naturalists offer guided fishing, kayaking, hiking, biking, birding, history and ecological tours. Day trips may also be arranged. The majority of the island's acreage is composed of

salt marsh A salt marsh, saltmarsh or salting, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. I ...

. The island's

maritime forest A maritime forest is an ocean coastal wooded habitat found on higher ground than dune areas within range of salt spray. They can be found along the Atlantic and Pacific Northwest coasts of the United States. The maritime forests of the southeast ...

features

cabbage palm Cabbage palm is a common name for several species of palms or palm-like plants: *'' Cordyline fruticosa'', a tropical tree native to Asia and Polynesia *'' Corypha utan'', an East Asian fan palm (including Northern Australia) *''Euterpe oleracea'', ...

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. ...

, red cedar, red bay, southern

magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...

and

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

s; often draped in

Spanish moss Spanish moss (''Tillandsia usneoides'') is an Epiphyte, epiphytic flowering plant that often grows upon large trees in tropical and subtropical climates. It is native to much of Mexico, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Central America, South America (as far ...

. Little St. Simons is host to more than 334 species of birds; some are temporary residents who include the island in their migrations, while others are permanent residents. Species of note include:

bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche ...

red knot The red knot or just knot (''Calidris canutus'') is a medium-sized shorebird which breeds in tundra and the Arctic Cordillera in the far north of Canada, Europe, and Russia. It is a large member of the ''Calidris'' sandpipers, second only to the ...

painted bunting The painted bunting (''Passerina ciris'') is a species of bird in the cardinal family, Cardinalidae. It is native to North America. The bright plumage of the male comes only in the second year of life; in the first year, they can be distinguished ...

roseate spoonbill The roseate spoonbill (''Platalea ajaja'') is a social wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family, Threskiornithidae. It is a resident breeder in both South and North America. The roseate spoonbill's pink color is diet-derived, consisting of ...

black-necked stilt The black-necked stilt (''Himantopus mexicanus'') is a locally abundant shorebird of North and South American wetlands and coastlines. It is found from the coastal areas of California through much of the interior western United States and along ...

s, and

wood stork The wood stork (''Mycteria americana'') is a large wading bird in the family (biology), family Ciconiidae (Ciconiiformes, storks). Originally described in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus, this stork is native to the subtropics and tropics of the Americas ...

s. Backing the island's beaches are pristine dunes which provide nesting habitat for various shorebirds such as:

piping plover The piping plover (''Charadrius melodus'') is a small sand-colored, Passerellidae, sparrow-sized wader, shorebird that nests and feeds along coastal sand and gravel beaches in North America. The adult has yellow-orange-red legs, a black band acro ...

s and

American oystercatcher The American oystercatcher (''Haematopus palliatus''), occasionally called the American pied oystercatcher, is a member of family Haematopodidae. Originally called the "sea pie", it was renamed in 1731 when naturalist Mark Catesby claimed that h ...

s. From May to September, Little St. Simons Island's beaches are patrolled daily and signs of

loggerhead sea turtle The loggerhead sea turtle (''Caretta caretta'') is a species of sea turtle, oceanic turtle distributed throughout the world. It is a marine reptile, belonging to the Family (biology), family Cheloniidae. The average loggerhead measures around ...

nesting are documented. Several freshwater ponds provide habitat for

tree frog A tree frog (or treefrog) is any species of frog that spends a major portion of its lifespan in trees, known as an arboreal state. Several lineages of frogs among the Neobatrachia suborder have given rise to treefrogs, although they are not clos ...

alligator An alligator, or colloquially gator, is a large reptile in the genus ''Alligator'' of the Family (biology), family Alligatoridae in the Order (biology), order Crocodilia. The two Extant taxon, extant species are the American alligator (''A. mis ...

s; and supply drinking water for other animals including the European fallow deer.

Fallow deer Fallow deer is the common name for species of deer in the genus ''Dama'' of subfamily Cervinae. There are two living species, the European fallow deer (''Dama dama''), native to Europe and Anatolia, and the Persian fallow deer (''Dama mesopotamic ...

were introduced for sport in the early 20th century, and may be seen in three colors: solid white, dark chocolate, and tan with white spots. Sport fishing in the tidal creeks and surf can be very productive for those in search of redfish, black drum, flounder and speckled trout. Off the shores

otter Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which includes weasels, badgers, mink, and wolverines, among ...

dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...

s, and

right whale Right whales are three species of large baleen whales of the genus ''Eubalaena'': the North Atlantic right whale (''E. glacialis''), the North Pacific right whale (''E. japonica'') and the southern right whale (''E. australis''). They are class ...

s swim in the inlets and open waters of the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. The island's first owner was Samuel Ougspourger, a Swiss colonist from

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, who purchased the island from King George II, in 1760, and eight years later sold it to his grandson Gabriel Maniqualt. Little St. Simons Island was eventually acquired by

Pierce Butler Pierce or Piers Butler may refer to: * Piers Butler, 8th Earl of Ormond (c. 1467 – 26 August 1539), Anglo-Irish nobleman in the Peerage of Ireland * Piers Butler, 3rd Viscount Galmoye (1652–1740), Anglo-Irish nobleman in the Peerage of Ireland * ...

, who ran a rice plantation located in the island's extreme northwestern marsh along the Altamaha River. Butler planned that cotton grown on the island would be very profitable. Abolitionist actress

Fanny Kemble Frances Anne Kemble (later Butler; 27 November 180915 January 1893) was a British actress from a Kemble family, theatre family in the early and mid-nineteenth century. She was a well-known and popular writer and abolitionist whose published wor ...

, wife of Butler's grandson Pierce Mease Butler, described the island in her journal in 1839 as "a little wide sand heap, covered with thick forest growth." Today the island is owned by the former U.S. Treasury Secretary,

Henry Paulson Henry "Hank" Merritt Paulson Jr. (born March 28, 1946) is an American investment banker and financier who served as the 74th United States secretary of the treasury from 2006 to 2009. Prior to his role in the Department of the Treasury, Paulson ...

, and his wife Wendy.

References

* South Carolina Probate Records, Bound Volumes, 1671-1977," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1-19424-71755-55?cc=1919417&wc=9386061 : accessed 04 Dec 2013), Charleston > Wills, 1767-1771, Vol. 013 > image 366 of 394. * South Carolina Probate Records, Bound Volumes, 1671-1977," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1-19424-76732-18?cc=1919417&wc=9386069 : accessed 04 Dec 2013), Charleston > Wills, 1780-1783, Vol. 019 > image 172 of 435

External links

Little St. Simons website

Staying at Little St Simon's Island with kids
{{authority control Barrier islands of Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia (U.S. state) Sea Islands Islands of Glynn County, Georgia Private islands of the United States