Last updated: February 4, 2022
Place
Moat
NPS Photo
Quick Facts
Amenities
1 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits
This walkway was once Military Road, the first colonial highway on St. Simons Island. Military Road extended from Fort St. Simons on the south tip of the island to the gates of Frederica. Francis Moore, Oglethorpe’s secretary, described St. Simons Island:
MOORE (pp. 45, 46): “The island abounds with deer and rabbits; there are no buffaloes on it, though there are large herds upon the main.… The woods on the island are chiefly live-oak, water-oak, laurel, bay, cedar, gum and sassafras, and some pines. There are also abundance of vines growing wild in the woods; one called the fox grape, from a kind of muscadine taste...”.
Woody muscadine grape vines still thread the trees overhead. The low footbridge you are approaching was built to protect the enormous vine on the left, stretching to the ground as thick as a tree trunk. This vine may be 100 years old. As you pass it, you will see a second bridge ahead.
MOORE (pp. 45, 46): “The island abounds with deer and rabbits; there are no buffaloes on it, though there are large herds upon the main.… The woods on the island are chiefly live-oak, water-oak, laurel, bay, cedar, gum and sassafras, and some pines. There are also abundance of vines growing wild in the woods; one called the fox grape, from a kind of muscadine taste...”.
Woody muscadine grape vines still thread the trees overhead. The low footbridge you are approaching was built to protect the enormous vine on the left, stretching to the ground as thick as a tree trunk. This vine may be 100 years old. As you pass it, you will see a second bridge ahead.