St. Simons Island has been part of the changing landscape of Georgia's Coast.  When General James E. Oglethorpe established Fort Frederica to protect Savannah and the Carolinas from the threat of Spain, Fort Frederica, for a short time, was a vibrant hub of British military operations. 

During the latter part of the 1700's, a plantation society thrived on the island until the outbreak of the War between the States.  Never returning to an agricultural community, by 1870 St. Simons re-established its community with the development of a booming timber industry.  And by the 1870s, the pleasant climate and proximity to the sea drew visitors to St. Simons Island as a year-round resort. 

The smallest of the Golden Isles and only a short distance across the sound from St. Simons Island, Jekyll Island was one ot the best known owned islands in the world. 

Originally called Ospso by the tribes that hunted and fished here, Jekyll was the legendary hiding place for part of Blackbeard's booty.  In the 1790's, Christopher Poulain duBignon purchased the island and cotton plantation, living the life of an aristocratic French landowner for nearly a century. 

Jekyll Island, however, is probably best known as the vacation retreat for many of the richest men in the world at the turn of the century.  Cottages erected in the late 18th and 19th centuries as the Jekyll Island Club still stand as a testament to the wealth of these business leaders.  Names like Morgan, Vanderbilt, Astor,, and Rockefeller graced the membership list. 

In 1947, Jekyll was purchased by the State of Georgia and 1954, a causeway connected Jekyll Island State Park with the mainland.

Designed under the Oglethorpe Plan in 1771, Brunswick features a grid pattern of streets and squares that gives this port city a unique character.  Originally named for the Dukes of Glouchester and Newcastle, for King George, Lord Mandfield and General Monk.  By the 19th century, the city prospered as a seaport and rail center.  In the early 1900's Brunswick was one of the world's leaders in export of lumber and naval stores. 

Many Portuguese and Greeks migrated to the area to begin a shrimping industry that still thrives today.  During WWII the Jones Shipyard earned the reputation for building liberty ships, building 99 ships before the war's end.  Today, Brunswick's Old Town district has one of the finest collections of Victorian style architecture in the area.