Fort Frederica National Monument Long-Range Interpretive Plan

National Park Service

Fort Frederica and the town of Frederica were established in 1736 by James Oglethorpe to protect the southern boundary of his new colony of Georgia. In the early 18th century, the land lying between British South Carolina and Spanish Florida was known as the debatable land. This land became the nexus of a centuries-old imperial conflict between Spain and Britain. Troops from Frederica successfully repulsed a Spanish attempt to retake St. Simons Island and consequently halted forever any surther Spanish expansion in the southeastern part of North America. After this threat was removed, the garrison at Fort Frederica was disbanded and the town fell into decline. The fate of Frederica is reminiscent of modern military towns that wither away when the installations that have supported their existence are suddenly obsolete. Fort Frederica National Monument is located on St. Simons Island, Georgia, just off the coast from Brunswick, Georgia. St. Simons Island is one of the Georgia "Sea Islands" situated on the eastern seaboard, approximately 60 miles due south of Savannah, Georgia, and 65 miles north of Jacksonville, Florida. Frederica was a place on the edge of a frontier and on the cusp of a clash of empires. This plan will address how best to help visitors comprehend what it was like to live in such a place, subject to the whims of empire, the variables in human community, and the challenges of a frontier wilderness.

Fort Frederica National Monument Long-Range Interpretive Plan

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