Oglethorpe’s Birthday Celebration to be held at Fort Frederica on December 16, 2006.

Date: December 5, 2006
Contact: Kim Coons, 912-638-3639
Contact: Jon Burpee, 912-638-3639

 “This being Mr. Oglethorpe’s Birthday the Magistrates, military Officers, and principal Inhabitants, met at the Fort, where some Bottles of Wine and some Biscuit being prepared, about Noon his Majesty’s Health, and the Royal Family’s were drank, under a Discharge of thirteen guns; then the honourable Trustees; and next the Captain General of these Provinces.”

                                     -William Stephens
                                   December 21, 1737
                                     Savannah

As the leading figure of the new colony of Georgia, General James Edward Oglethorpe was feted on his birthday in the young settlements of the colony. On Saturday, December 16^th, the National Park Service at Fort Frederica National Monument will celebrate Oglethorpe’s birthday in true colonial style from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m.

Join park staff and living history volunteers for cannon and musket firings, toasts and joviality. Special tours of the town will be offered at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. At noon, meet Mr. Oglethorpe on his special day and learn the importance of these celebrations in lifting the spirits of the settlers. At 12:30 p.m., author and historian Jud Conner will be signing his book Muskets, Knives and Bloody Marshes. A historic weapons program will be offered at 2:00 p.m. The Stewart-Law Baroque Ensemble Trio will provide colonial-era music from 1 – 3 p.m. The visitor center will be decorated in colonial style by the Neptune Garden Club. Refreshments will be served.

For further information about this event and the expanding number of programs at Fort Frederica National Monument visitors may contact the park VisitorCenter at 912-638-3639.

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 of the Fort Frederica Association and volunteers, preserve these symbols of our colonial past and share them with visitors from around the world.