Travel much on Cumberland Island and this will look quite familiar. It is the main road along the island. Packed down sand with lots of Live oak branches to watch out for.
We began on a freezing morning in St Mary GA. It was a record low temperature this morning. The town isn't accustomed to this. There was a water main leaking water onto a leaky pipe ice sculpture. The NPS ferry Cumberland Queen took us from the town dock, out the St Mary River toward Cumberland Island. The 40 minute ride was cold inside the unheated cabin.
Once on the island we waited a few minutes for our tour guide to arrive. Everyone was reacting to the cold weather. A group of Cub Scouts had spent the night out on the island. they were huddling in the tiny ferry office waiting for their ride out.
Our guide for today's tour arrived and got us and another couple in the van for the all day "Land and Legacy" tour. The tour was led by a volunteer. She has volunteered for a year or more and lives along with other volunteers on the island in park housing. The entire island is a National Seashore administered by the NPS. There are inholdings of private residents. It is a mixed bag of people and circumstances that allow some folks to reside here.
All horses and feral pigs on the island are not descended from Spanish horses and pigs like other barrier islands. They were all turned out in the 1920s by families including the Carnegies who could not or did not want to care for them anymore. So, they have some thoroughbred in them since the Carnegies would have had only the best back when they could afford such a luxury.
We drove the 7 mile trip to the north end of the island. Of course there is an obligatory stop at the tiny African American church JFK Jr was married in. JFK Jr had met Carnegie descendent GoGo Ferguson previously. She has part ownership of the only inn on the island, Greyfield Inn. In order to keep the paparazzi and the public in general, away from the wedding, Cumberland Island provided the ideal place. Public access is restricted via ferry capacity, Plus, the public does not have access to vehicles on the island. So even if you could get there, getting from the ferry landing to the tiny church is a 7 mile trek. Their wedding went off without the curiosity seekers.
Access to the beach is via this long boardwalk through the dunes. Trying to make your way out there otherwise could be an ordeal through the heavy bush here.
This is what most of the island looks like
The Dungeness site has a lot of history. Once owned by Nathanial Greene and later by Thomas Carnegie and his descendants, the area has some good stories. Nathanial Greene financed some of his troops needs by personally paying for necessities. He was never reimbursed by the Continental Congress or US Congress. However, his widow Katy continued to pursue repayment and was was finally given some repayment. With her newly found wealth, she married her kids' tutor Phineas Miller and they built a mansion of tabby construction. It was a grand place but not nearly grand enough for Thomas Carnegie who wanted the place for a winter residence. He built his own Dungeness and staffed it with 300 servants and laborers. After the Carnegies could no longer afford the place and left it in 1925, it fell into disrepair and was burned in 1959. A local fellow who had been caught poaching was suspected as the arsonist.
Cumberland Queen waits at the dock
Plum Orchard
The NPS has restored Plum Orchard mansion. Thomas and Lucy Carnegie had the home built for their son George and new wife Margaret from 1898 to 1906. It, too was left vacant for decades. Although, it has had extensive work, it looks far from finished.
It is a gorgeous beach.
No comments:
Post a Comment