From the earliest tribes who hunted and fished to the tourists who
relaxed on the beaches, St. Simons Island has been part of the landscape
of Georgia's coast.
When Gen. James E. Oglethorpe established Fort Frederica to protect
Savannah and the Carolinas from the threat of Spain, the island was, for
a short time, a vibrant hub of British military operations. During the
latter part of the 1700s, a plantation society thrived on the island
until the outbreak of the War Between the States. Never to return to an
agricultural community, by 1870 St. Simons re-established itself with
the development of a booming timber industry. At the turn of the
century, the pleasant climate and proximity to the sea drew tourists to
St. Simons as a year-round resort. Although the causeway had brought
large numbers of summer visitors to the island, St. Simons remained a
sleepy little place with only a few hundred permanent residents until
1941.