Boundary Study Public Meeting

Date: June 19, 2008
Contact: Mary Beth Wester, 912-638-3639

The National Park Service is currently conducting a boundary expansion study for Fort Frederica National Monument.  The purpose of this boundary study is to determine new properties that could be added to Fort Frederica to protect their archeological, cultural and natural resources.  Initially, the National Park Service is looking at five properties totaling approximately 175 acres.  The St. Simons Land Trust is working in partnership with the National Park Service to preserve these lands for conservation purposes.

On Thursday, June 26, the National Park Service invites all interested individuals, groups, park neighbors, organizations, agencies, and public officials to public information sessions to discuss the boundary expansion proposal. Questions and comments are highly encouraged as we seek feedback on this process.  The Open House will take place at the Fort Frederica National Monument Visitor Center from 3 to 7 p.m.  Each hour there will a poster presentation discussing the proposed properties. Interested parties are welcome at any time during the Open House hours.

As alternative concepts are formulated for the boundary expansion, they will be posted on the Internet.  For future reference you can view the Boundary Expansion website for Fort Frederica by using your web browser to go to the following web address: https://planning.nps.gov/.  Then type the words “Fort Frederica” in the search bar at the top of the page and you will be taken to the Boundary Expansion Study website.

Background:  Fort Frederica National Monument is one of America’s national parks.  Established in 1936 and dedicated in 1947, the park preserves the incredibly rich archaeological remains of one of Great Britain’s strongest forts in the colony of Georgia.  It was on St. Simons Island in 1742 that British troops from Frederica and Darien decisively defeated Spanish Floridians in the Battles of Gully Hole Creek and Bloody Marsh.  Ironically, the very battles that saved Frederica from destruction by the Spanish doomed the town and fort to ruins.  Without a Spanish threat, Britain pulled Frederica’s soldiers out of the fort and the settlers left as the town’s economy suffered.  All but abandoned, the town of Frederica slipped into history.  Time has worn down the earthworks protecting the town, yet the ruins and foundations of the buildings remain as a visual reminder of the struggle for empire on Georgia’s coast.  Today, the National Park Service, with assistance from the Fort Frederica Association and volunteers, preserve these symbols of our colonial past and share them with visitors from around the world.