Cumberland Island

We spent the day on Cumberland Island about a 45 minute ride by Ferry from St. Mary's Georgia.  Cumberland is a National Seashore, the largest and southernmost barrier island.  The National Park shelters 36,000 acres of pristine maritime forests, wild beaches, freshwater lakes and saltwater marshes, and over 9,800 acres of wilderness Congress protected under the 1964 Wilderness Act.  It also has numerous species of birds, wild hogs, aramdillos, 2 species of deer, bobcats & coyotes.  Revolutionary war hero Gen. Nathanael Green was granted land in 1783.  His widow Catherine Green built a four story tabby home and named it Dungeness.  The ruins of the home stand today.  Thomas Carnegie began building on the ruins in 1884.  The settlement was established for African American workers.  The Carnegie family built the mansion, Plum Orchard on the north end of the island and it still stands today and we were able to tour it.  The Carnegie family donated the island to the National Park Foundation in 1971.  Family members were able to negotiate terms to be able to live there for the remainder of their lives and several decendants still come there to vacation.