Ossabaw Island facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Ossabaw Island
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 Location in Georgia (U.S. state)
Location in the United States
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| Nearest city | Savannah, Georgia |
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| Architect | Wallin, Henrik; Shipman, Ellen Biddle |
| Architectural style | Mission/Spanish Revival, Stick/Eastlake, saddlebag |
| NRHP reference No. | 96000468 |
| Added to NRHP | May 06, 1996 |
Ossabaw Island is a wild barrier island off the coast of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is part of a chain called the Sea Islands. The island sits in the Atlantic Ocean, about twenty miles south by water from Savannah, Georgia. It is the third-largest barrier island in Georgia. It covers about 26,000 acres in total size. That includes 9,000 acres of green woods and freshwater ponds. It also has 16,000 acres of marshlands filled with tidal creeks. You cannot drive a car to the island. There are no bridges or roads linking it to the mainland. Water surrounds the whole island. Wassaw Island and the Ogeechee River sit to the north, while St. Catherines Island lies to the south.
Contents
History of Ossabaw Island
People have lived on this beautiful island for thousands of years. Early American Indians lived by fishing, hunting, and gathering shell foods. Over many centuries, Spanish explorers, English settlers, and new landowners traveled across the waters to build homes here.
Early Native American Life
Archaeologists have found ancient clues on the island. People lived here at least 4,000 years ago. Scientists discovered pieces of old pottery buried in oyster shell heaps called middens. When Spanish explorers arrived in the early 1500s, the Guale nation lived here. The Guale traded and sometimes fought with the Spanish. Later, the Guale moved further inland. By the 1730s, English settlers made treaties with the Creek Indians, who kept the island as a hunting and fishing area.
Plantations and Changing Owners
In 1758, Creek leaders gave the island to the King of Great Britain. A man named Henri Bourquin later took ownership. He sold the island to his son-in-law, John Morell. Morell turned the island into large agricultural farms called plantations. Enslaved workers were forced to clear the land, harvest timber, and grow crops. When Morell passed away, the land was divided among his family. After the American Civil War, small family groups and tenant farmers worked the fields. In 1907, a man named Henry D. Weed bought land here. By 1916, Weed owned the whole island and sold it to businessmen as a private retreat.
The Torrey Family and the Arts
In 1924, a wealthy doctor named Henry Norton Torrey and his wife Nell Ford Torrey bought the island. Later, their daughter, Eleanor Torrey West, grew up loving the wild nature around her. In 1961, she and her husband Clifford started the Ossabaw Island Project. They invited great thinkers to stay in the peaceful woods. Famous musical composers like Aaron Copland and Samuel Barber came to write music. Wonderful book authors such as Ralph Ellison, Annie Dillard, Olive Ann Burns, and Margaret Atwood came to write stories. A famous sculptor named Harry Bertoia and a pioneer ecologist named Eugene Odum also worked here.
Saving the Island as a Nature Preserve
Many builders wanted to buy the land to make hotels and beach resorts. Eleanor Torrey West wanted to keep the wild forests safe forever. In 1978, she helped sell the property to the state. The agreement turned it into a special Heritage Preserve. The contract promised that the island would only ever be used for science, education, and nature study.
Nature and Wildlife Research Today
Today, Ossabaw Island is a protected outdoor classroom. The state's Georgia Department of Natural Resources looks after the wildlife and land. They work together with a group called the Ossabaw Island Foundation. Only small educational groups, students, and scientists are allowed to visit the island by boat.
Sea Turtles and Coastal Animals
Ossabaw Island is an amazing sanctuary for wild animals. Every summer, giant mother loggerhead sea turtles crawl up the dark beaches to lay their eggs. Scientists track the turtle nests to protect the baby hatchlings. Migrating birds stop in the marshes to eat tiny fish and rest their wings during long flights. Biologists also study the health of wild deer that leap through the island forests.
Exotic Animals on the Island
Long ago, humans brought animals to the island that did not belong in Georgia nature. These included wild pigs, known as the Ossabaw Island Hog, as well as feral donkeys and horses. The pigs and Sicilian donkeys ate too many native plants. Because of this, scientists worked on plans to protect the forests. The donkeys were kept from having new babies so they would not harm the natural plants. Today, scientists work hard to keep the native plants and animals safe for future generations.
See Also
- USS Water Witch (1851)
- Ossabaw Island Hog
- Kilkenny (Richmond Hill, Georgia)
- Savannah, Georgia
- Sea Islands
