HISTORY

St. Marys was established in 1787, and at the time was called Buttermilk Bluff. But long before the British Colonial Council decided St. Marys was a desirable site for a city, the Guales, the Timucuans, the Creeks, and the Yamacraw Indians roamed the area, living off the riches of the land. Evidence suggests that as early as 200 BC, Indians hunted wild game, fished the rivers and waded for clams and oysters along the St. Marys waterfront. The Indian tribes suffered such heavy population losses due to European-introduced diseases, that by 1717, only 256 Indians of the Timucuan tribe were left, and these were moved to St. Augustine.

A French expedition came to Camden County in 1562, then Spanish soldiers came in 1565. It was the English that made the claim to Georgia in 1663, taking it from the hands of the Creek and Cherokee Nation. It seems everybody wanted a piece of St. Marys. During the Revolutionary War, its location on the very border between the freedom loving Colonists and the sometimes-Spanish, sometimes-British Florida, placed the area in a position of protector for all of Georgia. During the War of 1812, British soldiers said they found plenty to plunder in St. Marys. And a little known fact is that the last battle of the War of 1812 was fought just a few miles from the St. Marys waterfront at Point Peter, contrary to most people’s belief that the Battle of New Orleans was the last battle.

St. Marys’ growth was interrupted several times by epidemics of yellow fever. The Oak Grove Cemetery is the resting place for many of these fever victims including Acadians who were driven out of Nova Scotia only to meet their demise in Southern Georgia. Soldiers from every major war are buried in the cemetery as well.

Many famous people have made visits to St. Marys throughout history, some not so welcome as in the case of the pirates who roamed the shores in early times. After the infamous duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr in 1804, Burr fled to St. Marys, and was a guest in the home of Archibald Clark. The Clark home on Osborne Street is the oldest private home in St. Marys.

In 1839, St. Marys’ “Grand Dame,” Orange Hall, was built and remains today one of America’s most noted examples of Greek Revival Architecture, serving as a house museum and an important tourist attraction for the City.

St. Marys was an important port in the early days. Boats and rafts loaded with cotton, hides and furs, dried meats, honey and beeswax could be seen plying their way to the port. The area’s abundant resources determined St. Marys’ industrial development. Its first sawmill was erected in 1869, and with lumbering, the area prospered by shrimping, fishing, shipbuilding, and canning plants.

In the old days, the only way to get from St. Marys to anywhere was a boat ride to Fernandina Beach, Florida or a dirt road to Kingsland. But in 1908, a railroad track connection between Kingsland and St. Marys was completed, making the trip much faster. In the late 1920s, a shipwright named Phil Hooper hand built a miniature passenger railroad car and placed it on a model T truck chasis with wheels modified for rail use. The motorcar, as well as several of St. Marys landmarks, was made famous through the nationally syndicated comic strip “Wash Tubbs and Easy” by Roy Crane in the 1930s. They called the motorcar the “Toonerville Trolley,” and you can see it today housed in glass right by the St. Marys Welcome Center.

The Gilman Paper Company opened its paper plant in 1941, bringing unprecedented growth to St. Marys and the surrounding area. Money Magazine named St. Marys “America’s #1 Small Town” during its booming era. The paper mill is closed now, of course, and on its site there are plans to build a luxury resort, upscale housing, and mixed retail space.

Today, St. Marys is a thriving tourism destination and is known as the Gateway to Cumberland Island. As many as 300 visitors a day take the ferry from the St. Marys waterfront to the Island. Settled by the renowned Carnegie family in 1881, Cumberland Island became a national park in 1972, and its pristine shoreline along with the wild horses that roam the beaches are protected by Congress. In 2005, Cumberland Island was named the most beautiful wilderness beach in America by the Travel Channel. JFK, Jr. was married on the Island, and Carnegie descendents still live there.