Saint Simons Island, Ga

Tall ship berth in Brunswick, Ga at Mary Ross Park, named Peacemaker, a barquenline sailing vessel. Built in Brazil to be a charter vessel in 1989 and brought to Savannah Ga. To be finished. No work was started and after 8 years the ship was sold to the Twelve Tribes Communities. The ship was finished in 2008. It has a 33’ beam, 14’ draft and displaces 400 tons.













Glynn County Courthouse located at 701 G Street Brunswick, Ga. The cornerstone was laid on 27 Dec 1906 and completed on 18 December 1907 costing $97,613. The Glynn County Courthouse is a fine example of Neoclassical Revival style architecture and combines ancient Greek and Roman forms with Renaissance ideas. The courthouse stands impressively among the moss draped live oaks, Magnolia,  in addition to trees of foreign origin including Tung and Chinese pistachio. perched on a cushion of green grass.
http://www.courthouses.co/us-states/states-a-g/georgia/glynn-county/
 The building faces south and is a two story buff colored brick and stone structure. The south front has a large portico supported by four large columns rising to a wide header. Above the header is a balustrade. There are east and west wings which extend slightly from the main building. On the center of the roof is a octagonal open sided white dome with clock at the top and green colored roof. 
Facts
  • The courthouse rests on 350 concrete pilings.
  • The building uses a 2.5-inch by 13.5-inch floor joist system.
  • After a recent renovation ,the main courtroom was restored to its original appearance. The balcony was restored and the twin chandeliers were rewired and refurbished.
  • The courthouse has heart pine wood floors.
  • The building rests on 24-inch thick granite footers.
  • Fire Insurance maps indicate this building is 40 feet to the main roof line.
  • During the energy crunch of the 70`s, the ceiling on the second floor courtroom was lowered to 12 feet, hiding the balcony area.
  • The original price to construct the building was $65,000. The 723 registered voters overwhelmingly passed a bond issue by a margin of 481 to 8 to make up the additional $50,000 the courthouse would cost.
  • The upstairs courtroom has 32 foot "cathedral ceilings".
  • The grand staircase is made of Granite.
  • Lighting was provided by gas lights, but later replaced by electricity.
  • The courthouse has 2-inch thick oak interior doors.





Saint Simons Lighthouse
Fort St. Simons was the first structure to occupy this land, although an earlier fort (Delegal's) existed in the area. Fort St. Simons was built to watch for Spanish invaders, and was captured by the Spanish in 1742. It was from this site that the Spanish began to probe St. Simons Island looking for a rumored second fort built by Oglethorpe (Ft. Frederica). Troops searching for Frederica initiated the Battle of Bloody Marsh, fought on the island during the War of Jenkins Ear. 

In the early 1800's a plantation owner, James Couper, purchased the land and renamed it Couper's Point. He deeded four acres to the federal government for 1 dollar to build a lighthouse. The first structure 75-feet tall octagonal in shape topped by a 10-foot oil burning lamp. The construction begun in 1807 by James Gould, was made of tabby, a common building material on the island at the time. Gould took three years to complete the project, then served as the first lighthouse keeper. 

During the American Civil War, U.S. military forces employed a Naval blockade of the coast. An invasion by Union troops in 1862 forced Confederate soldiers to abandon the area. The retreating troops destroyed the lighthouse to prevent it from being an aid to the navigation of Union warships.
The U.S. government constructed a new lighthouse to replace the original, building it to the west of the original's location. It is a 104-foot (32 m) brick structure completed in 1872,
 In 1890 the lighthouse was converted from whale oil lamps to kerosene lamps. In 1934 an electric line was run to the lighthouse, which used electricity to illuminate the island from that point on. The original third-order Fresnel lens is still there in operation at the St. Simons lighthouse as it shines its light out to sea for a distance of eighteen miles.  I
The rotating lens projects four beams of light, with one strong flash every 60 seconds.cast iron spiral stairway with 129 steps leads to the galley (or watch/service room).
The sturdy keepers’ house, designed to withstand the worst of storms, has walls that are twelve inches thick. It housed the keeper, assistant keeper, and their families. This was a typical living situation during that time, but later lighthouse builders built a separate house for each family. This one-house-two-families situation didn’t always work out very well and often caused trouble. In March 1880, an argument between lighthouse keeper Frederick Osborne and his assistant left Mrs. Osborne a widow. After this incident, the central staircase was removed in the early 1900s, and additional stairs were put on the outside to better accommodate other families and put some space between them.
May 2019 marked the 25th year that the volunteer light keepers of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary St Simons Island took on the responsibility from the Coast Guard active duty to maintain the iconic, heavily visited, working Lighthouse’s official Aid to Navigation (ATON) located in the village on St Simons Island, GA.













Hazel Café
Hazel and Thomas Floyd opened the cafe in 1947, banking on the post-war economic boom to generate business. Boy, did it. Hazel’s Cafe already was an iconic relic when it finally closed its doors to customers in 1978, some 40 years ago.
Thomas was from Hazelhurst, arriving on St. Simons Island after serving in the Army during World War II (1941-45). He was a darned good cook. Hazel was an island native, ready for a change of pace after having worked in Brunswick’s Liberty Ship yards during the war years. Together, the couple whipped up a recipe for success that would feed the community for three decades.
 
Right whale sculpture

A North Atlantic Right Whale and her baby surface out of the ground. Sculpted in 1995 by Keith Jennings.

Uniola paniculata, also known as sea oats, seaside oats, araña, and arroz de costa, is a tall subtropical grass that is an important component of coastal sand dune and beach plant communities in the southeastern United States, eastern Mexico and some Caribbean islands. Its large seed heads that turn golden brown in late summer give the plant its common name. Its tall leaves trap wind-blown sand and promote sand dune growth, while its deep roots and extensive rhizomes act to stabilize them, so the plant helps protect beaches and property from damage due to high winds, storm surges and tides. It also provides food and habitat for birds, small animals and insects.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniola_paniculata
Fern Overvold
Atlanta Branch

Tall and slender
the sea oats
bow to one another
without breaking.
Something in their sandy
shoes allows them to
tilt from their toes,
lean West with the wind
at sunrise, and stand
straight again at vespers.

Like graceful old ladies
with a crown of seeds
dry at summer’s end,
they drop each kernel
for tomorrow’s purpose—
binding the sand
holding the dunes
saving the shore.




 

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