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Survey of
Historic Sites and Buildings

	FORT FREDERICA NATIONAL MONUMENT Georgia	Fort Frederica
Location: St. Simons Island, 12 miles from Brunswick; address, Box 816, St. Simons Island, Ga. 31522. Fort Frederica National Monument

Fort Frederica was established in February 1736 by Gen. James Oglethorpe, colonizer of Georgia, to assert England's claim to the southern coastal area contested by France, Spain, and England. It consisted of a fortified town and a defensive bastion. Minor clashes with the Spaniards led Oglethorpe late in 1739 to attempt to seize the Spanish bastion of Castillo de San Marcos at St. Augustine, Fla. The attempt failed, and the Spanish retaliated by marching against Fort Frederica. Oglethorpe defeated them in July 1742 at the Battle of Bloody Marsh, 1-1/2 miles from Fort Frederica. The Spaniards withdrew and never again tried to occupy Georgia. Deprived of its strategic location by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748 and swept by fire in 1758, Fort Frederica was gradually abandoned.

Excavation by archeologists has revealed much about the layout of the fortified town of Fort Frederica, and produced many objects used by the earliest settlers. The foundations of the Hawkins and Davison houses are shown here. (National Park Service)

Fort Frederica National Monument contains the sites of the town and the fort. Tabby ruins of some of the buildings are still standing, and the sites of others have been exposed by archeological excavations. A visitor center interprets the history of Fort Frederica.