Frederica, a British settlement 1736

Sixty miles south of Savannah on the Atlantic coast, Georgia's fate was decided in 1742 when Spanish and British forces clashed on St. Simons Island. Fort Frederica's troops defeated the Spanish, ensuring Georgia's future as a British colony. Today, the archeological remnants of Frederica are protected by the National Park Service.

There may be little left of their construction on this peaceful site, but one can imagine the English- style village raised inside the Fort walls for protection of the working people who came over the Atlantic from England and Scotland to settle.

Some people stayed and prospered, some died, some ran away, and others returned to Europe after a year or two. It must have been daunting to live in a British outpost on a strange continent far away from the sophistication of Europe.

An artist's representation of the Fort in the 18th c. (not my photo).



Fort Frederica was established in 1736 by James Oglethorpe to protect the southern boundary of his new colony of Georgia from the Spanish in Florida. Georgia began with philanthropic purpose. Eventually Oglethorpe brought over about 1,000 soldiers to defend the colony from Spain.

You can see the last of the fortifications and cannons pointing out to sea to discourage those Spanish intruders. This is what remains of Fort Frederica on the waterfront.

The place felt a little eerie, late in the day and mostly empty. this is the remains of the Fort Frederica barracks.

The signposts show where the few streets went through the village.

Imagine this as a busy street one day in 1740.

James Oglethorpe (22 December 1696 – 30 June 1785) was a British general, Member of Parliament, philanthropist, and founder of the colony of Georgia. As a social reformer, he hoped to resettle Britain's poor, especially those in debtors' prisons, in the New World.