Darien, Georgia
Thursday, October 22, 2009
This 18th century frontier fortification on the Altamaha River has been reconstructed for public tours. The fort was constructed in 1721 and through 1728 was the southern outpost of the British Empire in North America. After the fort was abandoned, General James Oglethorpe brought Scottish Highlanders to the site in 1736. The settlement, called
Darien, eventually became a foremost export center of lumber until 1925. We toured a museum with 18th and 19th century artifacts and we saw a short film about the history of English, Spanish and French occupation of the area, starting with the Guale Indians. They had a nice museum featuring pottery, firearms and household items used in the 1700s. The neat thing is that since the fort was reconstructed, you can go inside all the buildings and get a real feel for what it was like living there.
The nature trails were even more interesting; we walked along the Altamaha Delta and marshland and saw the cypress, red cedar, palmetto and oak trees up close. The black-painted milk gallon jugs are to keep the deer flies away; they’re coated with an insecticide. We had the place all to ourselves; I’m glad we didn’t try to tour it in the summer; we’d have been miserable.
