Saint Simons Island was not always the tranquil and beautiful place it is today. Since it had long been their home, the mainly peaceful Native Americans were suspicious and at times unfriendly due to religious conversion efforts by the Spanish in neighbouring Florida. The island first came to the attention of the English settlers farther north in the early 1700s. They decided to create a settlement and erect a fort to assert their sovereignty over what eventually became Georgia.

In 1736 the founder of Savannah, General James ... (more)