12 March 2020 Fort Frederica NM

With the building Corona crisis, we are concerned they might close the national parks. So we figured we better get out to Fort Frederica as soon as possible. Fort Frederica was built by the British 1736-1748 in “disputed territory” between the British colony of South Carolina and the Spanish Colony of Florida. It was from this fort that the British sailed to lay siege to Castillo de San Marcos in 1740. In 1742, the Spanish returned the favor by attacking the island of St. Simons. After landing on the southern end of the island, the Spanish stormed and over ran Fort Simons. The British in the fort retreated to Fort Frederica. The British sent out a small force which ambushed a Spanish scouting party at Bloody Marsh. Seven Spanish troops were killed in the exchange of gunfire across the marsh, where the two forces never actually saw each other. Unsure of how big a force they were up against, the Spanish retreated back to Fort Simons. Following the treaty ending the seven years war, the fort was abandoned and the town slowly disappeared. The area was designated a National Monument in 1946. In the 1950s, there was an extensive archeological dig that uncovered many artifacts and identified the town defenses and the fortifications. The park service rebuilt a portion of the fort in the 1950s. We explored the small store, visitor center exhibit, watched the park movie and collected our 74th passport stamp (Our 36^thNational Monument). We self toured the town grounds and fort. There is not a lot to see other than some foundations and a couple of structures that were rebuilt by the park service. But the history is interesting. After visiting the fort, we went into historic St. Simons and found a brewery for a couple of beers before getting dinner at Crawdaddy’s. We recommend it!

Entrance Sign

Old oaks and Spanish moss

Foundations of one of the houses in the town of Frederica

Ruins of Fort Frederica

Cannons on the sea wall

Old oaks on the edge of the old moat