Ft. King George, GEORGIA

The layout of Fort King George, with entry on Altamaha River.

Audrey and I went to see a recreated fort from 1721 when it was first built. It was rebuilt to plans showing what it was like when the British defended the southern frontier from the Spanish on the south and the French intrusion from the west . Fort King George was a monumental step toward the establishment of Georgia. This fort was named after King George the first of Britian. This fort was a typical triangular shaped construction with a 26 sq.ft. block house which was the main point of defense. The fort was abandoned in 1732, but then in 1736 the Highland Scots under General James Oglethorpe occupied the fort. These were the Highlanders that were sent to Jekyll Island who fought the battle of Bloody Marsh which ended the Spanish claim to this territory.

This museum is located in the town of Darien, Georgia on Rt. 17 which later was the first main coastal highway until I 95 was built. Darien was a busy lumber exporting area into the early 1900's.

The main mode of travel in the 1700's was by water, thus the main entrance of the Fort was on the river .

This is the block house that was constructed from the original design with 3 floors. The ground level is smaller than the upper ones and contained the munition supply and powder magazines. The second floor had cannon ports in the 4" thick wall that repelled small arms fire, with holes in the extended floor where they could fire down upon anyone closely approaching the building. The third floor was a gun room with ports for firing from and a lookout above. One can see the Upper branch of the Altamaha River from that point.

Here you see the moat which would contain water, with a wooden wall behind that had an earthen mound against it. This surrounded the entire fort. It shows how a soldier would be protected in a battle.

Looking from the second floor access door of the block house we were viewing the Altamaha River with cannons mounted along the exterior wall of the Fort. Some of these cannons are real and can be fired, while some are plastic replicas. What a bummer! I was surprised when I found the fakes.

This is a view of the marsh and river, looking from the observation area in the block house. What a view! I doubt that anyone could sneak up on you.

These are the sentry boxes on each corner of the Fort.

This view is of the river closest to the Fort. I thought this would make a good scene for a color picture drawing. Some day!

This was Officer quarters and enlisted soldier's barracks .

Visiting this museum would have been much more interesting if there had been a tour guide on site. We would have been given so much more period information. When we have visited other historical sites we find it better when there are guides. It still was an important part of our history, so I enjoyed it anyway.

Not done roaming! See you down the road.