Sapelo Island is a state-protected barrier island located in McIntosh County, Georgia. The island is accessible only by aircraftAirNav: 08GA - Sapelo Island Airport
/ref> or boat; the primary

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

comes from the Sapelo Island Visitors Center in McIntosh County, Georgia, a seven-mile (11 km), twenty-minute trip. It is the site of

Hog Hammock Hog Hammock is an African-American community on Sapelo Island, a barrier island of the U.S. state of Georgia. The community of Hog Hammock, also known as Hogg Hummock, includes homes, a general store, bar, public library, and other small businesse ...

, the last known Gullah community. It is illegal to visit the island without a permit issued by state tourism authorities. Approximately 97 percent of the island is owned by the state of Georgia and is managed by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources; the remainder is under private ownership. The western perimeter of Sapelo is the

Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve The Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve is a coastal plain estuary, located in the U.S. State of Georgia, protected on its seaward side by a Pleistocene barrier island. It was established in 1976. Sapelo Island is the fourth ...

(SINERR) which is part of NOAA's National Estuarine Research Reserve system (NERR). The University of Georgia Marine Institute, which is focused on research and education, is located on on the south end of the island. The Reynolds Mansion, a Georgia State Park, also lies on the south end of the island. Visitors to the island must be a part of an organized tour or guests of residents on the island. The island also has a small private airport run by the state of Georgia.

Hog Hammock

The community of Hog Hammock, also known as Hogg Hummock, includes homes, a general store, bar, public library, and other small businesses including vacation rentals. There are two active church congregations in Hog Hammock: St. Luke Baptist Church, founded in 1885, and First African Baptist Church, established in 1866. The latter congregation has an older building known as

First African Baptist Church at Raccoon Bluff The First African Baptist Church at Raccoon Bluff is a historic church on Sapelo Island, Georgia Sapelo Island is a state-protected barrier island located in McIntosh County, Georgia. The island is accessible only by aircraft or boat; th ...

, constructed in 1900 in the former Raccoon Bluff community north of Hog Hammock. It is used for special services and programs. Many of the full-time inhabitants of the Hog Hammock Community are

African Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

known as Gullah-Geechees, specifically Saltwater Geechees, who descended from enslaved West African people brought to the island in the 1700s and 1800s to work on island plantations. The current population of full-time Gullah-Geechee residents in the community is estimated to be 47 (2009). The residents must bring all supplies from the mainland or purchase them in the small store on the island. The children of Hog Hammock take the ferry to the mainland and then take a bus to school, as the island school closed in 1978. Hog Hammock is also home to th
Sapelo Island Cultural and Revitalization Society, Inc. (SICARS)
a non-profit organization whose mission is to preserve and revitalize th
Hogg Hummock
Community. SICARS was founded in 1993 by Hogg Hummock residents and non-resident descendants who wanted to enhance the future of their community by educating all visitors to the island about the history and to increase awareness that Sapelo has existed as an African community for over 200 years. SICARS was incorporated in 1994, has over 600 members, and continues to grow each year. The organization hosts a Cultural Day festival every third Saturday in October. The entire of the community was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996 as

Hog Hammock Historic District Hog Hammock is an African-American community on Sapelo Island, a barrier island of the U.S. state of Georgia. The community of Hog Hammock, also known as Hogg Hummock, includes homes, a general store, bar, public library, and other small business ...

. In the 1990s, people from the mainland began acquiring parcels of land from the Gullahs to construct vacation homes. In 2012, McIntosh County property tax appraisers notified Hog Hammock residents of huge property tax increases, even though there was no longer a school on the island. One Hog Hammock property owner's annual tax bill soared from $600 to $2,100. In 2013, a fight over the sudden tax hikes was well underway, with some residents claiming they would be driven from land they had owned for many generations for the benefit of mainlanders who would acquire more of Hog Hammock's homes.Ga. island slave descendants fight huge tax hikes
By Russ Bynum, Associated Press

History

Sapelo Island is speculated to be the site of San Miguel de Gualdape, the short-lived (1526–1527) first European settlement in the present-day United States and, if true, it would also be the first place in the present-day U.S. that a Catholic mass was celebrated. "Sapelo", a name of Indian origin, was known to the Spanish as "Zapala". During the 17th century the island was part of the Guale missionary province of

Spanish Florida Spanish Florida ( es, La Florida) was the first major European land claim and attempted settlement in North America during the European Age of Discovery. ''La Florida'' formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, ...

. After 1680, several missions were merged and relocated to the island under the mission Santa Catalina de Guale. Tabby ruins of 1809 sugar mill, Sapelo Island, GA, US

Tabby ruins of 1809 sugar mill, Sapelo Island, GA, US

In the early 19th century

Thomas Spalding Thomas Spalding (March 25, 1774 – January 4, 1851) was a United States representative from Georgia. He was born in Frederica, Georgia, St. Simons Island, Glynn County, Georgia. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1795, but did not ...

, a future Georgia Senator and

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

, bought the island and developed it into a plantation, selling live oak for shipbuilding, introducing irrigation ditches, and cultivating Sea Island Cotton, corn, and sugar cane. Spalding brought 400

slaves Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

to the island from West Africa and the West Indies to work the plantation and build what would become the Spalding Mansion. One of the slaves owned by Thomas Spalding was

Bilali Muhammad The Bilali Muhammad Document is a handwritten, Arabic manuscript on West African Islamic law. It was written in the 19th century by Bilali Mohammet, an enslaved West African held on Sapelo Island of Georgia. The document is held at the Hargrett Ra ...

, an Islamic scholar from West Africa who authored a 13-page document about Islamic law on the island — possibly the first manuscript of Islamic law written in the United States. In 1820, a Winslow Lewis brick

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

was built on the island. Although it remained dark for over 90 years, it was restored and relit in 1998. Spalding opposed the abolition of slavery and he died in 1851 returning from a convention to assert Georgia's position on the matter. When freed, the former slaves established several settlements on the island; the last remaining is Hog Hammock, with approximately 70 remaining land owners. During the Civil War, the Spalding home was heavily vandalized and lay in ruins. By the early 20th Century the International Road Races were attracting notables from the motor world to Savannah, Georgia. One attendee was

Howard E. Coffin Howard Earle Coffin (September 6, 1873 – November 21, 1937) was an American automobile engineer and industrialist. He was one of the founders of the Hudson Motor Car Company with Roy D. Chapin. He was a charter member of The Society of Automo ...

, founder of the

Hudson Motor Car Company The Hudson Motor Car Company made Hudson and other branded automobiles in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., from 1909 until 1954. In 1954, Hudson merged with Nash-Kelvinator to form American Motors Corporation (AMC). The Hudson name was continued through ...

. Coffin purchased the entire island, save for the land owned by the former slaves, for $150,000 in 1912. Like Spalding, the Coffins embarked on numerous projects. Miles of shell-covered roads were laid, creeks were bridged, old fields were cultivated and large tracts were set aside for cattle grazing. The Coffins also renovated and enlarged the Spalding house, creating an island paradise unsurpassed on the coast. Former presidents

Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Born in Vermont, Coolidge was a History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer ...

and Herbert Hoover as well as aviator Charles Lindbergh were guests in the home. Tobacco heir Richard Joshua Reynolds Jr., of

R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company The R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR) is an American tobacco manufacturing company based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and headquartered at the RJR Plaza Building. Founded by R. J. Reynolds in 1875, it is the second-largest tobacco comp ...

bought Sapelo from Coffin in 1934 during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, and continued the tradition of agricultural experimentation of the previous owners. Reynolds and his family used his private island paradise as a part-time residence for three decades, consolidating the island's African-American residents into Hog Hammock. Many worked as servants in South End House, later renamed the Reynolds Mansion by the State of Georgia.

Ecology research

In 1923 Sapelo owner Howard Coffin introduced imported chachalacas from Mexico to diversify the game bird population for his hunting pals. These chicken-like birds have established a stable, non-native population of 30-40 individuals that at times has spread to neighboring islands. Sapelo owner R. J. Reynolds, Jr. founded the Sapelo Island Research Foundation in 1949. He later funded the research of Eugene Odum, whose 1958 paper ''The Ecology of a Salt Marsh'' won wide acclaim in scientific circles. Odum's paper helped show the fragility of the cycle of nature in the wetlands. Reynolds' Sapelo Research Foundation also helped fund the University of Georgia's research on the island. Reynolds' widow, Annemarie Reynolds, sold Sapelo to the state of Georgia for $1 million, a fraction of its worth, in two separate transactions in 1969 and 1976. The latter sale resulted in the creation of the Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve, a state-federal partnership between the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Thanks in part to the philanthropy of the Reynolds family, Sapelo is now open to the public by appointment.

Geologic history

Sapelo Island is located within the Georgia Bight, a tidally-influenced coastline that experiences two tidal cycles each day. Average difference between low and high tides at Sapelo Island is ~. Consequently, Sapelo island is an example of a tidally-influenced barrier island system. Over the last 2.5 million years (

Neogene The Neogene ( ), informally Upper Tertiary or Late Tertiary, is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period Mya. ...

and Quaternary Periods), sea-level fall occurred in response to growth of the Northern Hemisphere ice cap. The resulting regression generated shoreline complexes that preceded the modern Holocene shoreline, with the most recent known as the late Pleistocene Silver Bluff Formation. The Silver Bluff deposits underlie Holocene Sapelo Island sediments, and are visible along the southwestern bank of Blackbeard Creek as the Raccoon Bluff. During the last glacial maximum (LGM) approximately 18,000 years ago (latest Pleistocene), maximum regression forced the Sapelo Island shoreline eastward approximately from its present-day location. During the subsequent transgression, a Holocene shoreline formed the present Sapelo Island shoreline complex, including Cabretta and Nannygoat beaches.

Hurricane Irma

In 2017, storm surge from Hurricane Irma caused a new tidal inlet to breach the southern end of Blackbeard Island, and created a small island between Sapelo Island and Blackbeard Island.

Climate

Tourism

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) offers tours several days a week. These can be booked through the Sapelo Island Visitors Center. Additionally, many island residents offer private tours, which can often be customized to fit the interests of individual tourists. A state campground is also available to groups of 15 to 25 people on Cabretta Island, adjacent to Sapelo Island.

In popular culture

Sapelo Island resident and descendant of Bilali Muhammed, Cornelia Walker Bailey, wrote the book ''God, Dr. Buzzard and the Bolito Man: A Saltwater Geechee Talk About Life on Sapelo Island, Georgia'' () which is a first-person account of growing up on Sapelo; co-author Christena Bledsoe. R. J. Reynolds' grandson Patrick Reynolds and author

Tom Shachtman Tom Shachtman (born 1942) is an American author, journalist, filmmaker, and educator. He has published more than thirty books across a variety of topics, including histories, biographies, and books for children. He lives in Connecticut. Awards Shac ...

co-authored ''The Gilded Leaf: Triumph, Tragedy and Tobacco - Three Generations of the R. J. Reynolds Fortune and Family'', which offers an unvarnished view of R. J. Reynolds, Jr. during the time he owned Sapelo. Author

Tom Poland Thomas Mitchell Poland (born February 4, 1949) is an American writer. He graduated from Lincoln High School in Lincolnton, Georgia. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in journalism and a master's degree in education from the University of Georgia. A f ...

wrote a novel titled ''Forbidden Island ... An Island Called Sapelo''. Singer

Larry Jon Wilson Larry Jon Wilson (October 7, 1940 – June 21, 2010) was an American country singer, guitarist and musician. He recorded "Through the Eyes of Little Children" and "I Betcha Heaven's on a Dirt Road". Biography Born in Swainsboro, Georgia, Wil ...

has recorded a song titled "Sapelo", which is about the island on the album ''Testifying - The Country Soul Revue''. Author and island resident Michele Nicole Johnson published the photograph book, ''Sapelo Island's Hog Hammock'', in 2009. Author

T. C. Boyle Thomas Coraghessan Boyle, also known as T. C. Boyle and T. Coraghessan Boyle (born December 2, 1948), is an American novelist and short story writer. Since the mid-1970s, he has published sixteen novels and more than 100 short stories. He won the ...

set his 1990 novel ''East is East'' on a fictional island in Georgia, much of which resembles Sapelo Island, such as the presence of Hog Hammock and proximity to Darien. An episode of Season 6 of the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

show Dirty Jobs featured the termite research program at the University of Georgia Marine Institute on Sapelo Island. An episode of ESPN's

Outside the Lines ''Outside the Lines'', or also referred to as ''OTL'', is an American television program on ESPN that looks "outside the lines" and examines critical issues in mostly American sports on and off the field of play. The primary host of the show is ...

was filmed on Sapelo Island and the Hog Hammock community in 2013, documenting the childhood of

Allen Bailey Allen Bailey (born March 25, 1989) is an American football defensive end who is a free agent. He played college football for the University of Miami. Early years Bailey was born in Sapelo Island, Georgia. He attended McIntosh County Academy in ...

and telling the community's story and current property tax issues. The Podcast Uncivil published on 10/11/17 was mostly based on the experience of local Gullah people struggling to keep their land and culture intact, despite many legal struggles. "A 19th century promise, and a 21st century betrayal. The past and present of 40 acres and a mule."

References

External links

Sapelo Island Reserve and Reynolds Mansion
Georgia State Parks
"The First Muslim American Scholar Bilali Muhammad"
Lost Islamic History
Sapelo Island Culture and Revitalization Society

Patrick Reynolds and Tom Shachtman, ''The Gilded Leaf: Three Generations of the RJ Reynolds Family and Fortune''
posted by Tobacco Free

Georgia Coast
University of Georgia Marine Institute at Sapelo Island

Friends of the Marine Institute
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sapelo Island Catholic Church in Georgia (U.S. state) Barrier islands of Georgia (U.S. state) Gullah country Protected areas established in 1965 Protected areas of McIntosh County, Georgia State parks of Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia (U.S. state) Sea Islands Islands of McIntosh County, Georgia Islands of Georgia (U.S. state) 1965 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)