St. Simons Island, Georgia
St. Simons Island is the home of Fort Frederica, built by General James Oglethorpe to protect the colonists from the Spanish at St. Augustine, Florida. A village of colonists was built around the fort and survived until about 1755. After Oglethorpe won the land war against Spain for Great Britain and evacuated the regiment (to England) about 1744, the economy failed and the remaining residents of the village moved into other areas of Glynn, Liberty and McIntosh Counties. The first Light House was built in 1810, made of tabby, a common mixture of lime, water, sand and oyster shells. Some of the tabby was taken from old Ft. Frederica. In 1862 the Confederate Army destroyed the tower with dynamite, as a caution against the Union troops. A second Light House was completed in 1872 and during its construction some of the crew died of malaria.