“Wilderness hosts answers to questions man has not yet learned.” Nancy Neuhall
This passage, showcased on a colorful ecosystem display at the Cumberland Island National Seashore Visitors Center, speaks volumes. The mystique of Cumberland Island’s wilderness is presented dramatically in captivating vignettes throughout the waterfront Visitors Center. One exhibit tells the intriguing story of how the legendary loggerhead sea turtle burrows for, lays, and hatches its eggs. Another takes visitors into the maritime forest to view the quaint antics of the white tail deer. Yet another brings visitors face to face with pictorials of laughing dolphins. You can trace the trail of fiddler crabs to ancient Timucuan Indian camps. And see first hand the life cycle of the melodic cicada. Learn about right whales and sea oats and sand dunes. And even listen to the sound of the noisy oyster catcher. Cumberland Island’s three distinct ecosystems are portrayed beautifully with sight and sound and a story that echoes long after a visitor has left the center. The Cumberland Island National Seashore Visitors Center is truly a feast for all the senses. Visitors can even touch the delicate layers of a 426-year-old live oak.

At the core of the Visitors Center is an undeniable sense of place and history. A sliver of the opulent Carnegie lifestyle is on display as well as a timeline that takes one back through wars, fires and other family tragedies. A poignant moment is inescapable as one gazes into “The Quarters,” Martin Pate’s moving portrait of life in the slave quarters at Cumberland Island’s Stafford Plantation (circa 1850).

Whether guests enter the Cumberland Island National Seashore Visitors Center on their way to the Island ferry launch, or just drop by for an escape into nature and history, their visit will be all about the “experience.” From the breathtaking river and salt marsh views, to the clever pine needle basket kits in the gift shop, to the interactive exhibits that educate and entertain, the Cumberland Island National Seashore Visitors Center experience is one to be repeated again and again.

The City of St. Marys and the National Park Service collaborated to ensure that the new Visitors Center would serve as a bridge to history by designing a building based on the original Miller’s Dock. For more than 50 years, Miller’s Dock served as the hub for seafaring industries that developed St. Marys.

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