St. George Island is an island and

Census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the count ...

(CDP) off the Florida Panhandle in the northern

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

. It is in Franklin County,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Physical characteristics

St. George is a

barrier island Barrier islands are coastal landforms and a type of dune system that are exceptionally flat or lumpy areas of sand that form by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from ...

long and wide at its widest point. St. George Island is adjacent to

Cape St. George Island Cape St. George Island (also known as Little St. George Island) is an uninhabited barrier island situated on Florida's North Gulf Coast, south-southeast of St. Vincent Island, west of St. George Island and 8–10 miles south-southwest of the t ...

, also known as Little St. George Island. It is connected to the mainland at

Eastpoint, Florida Eastpoint is a census-designated place (CDP) in Franklin County, Florida, United States. The population was 2,337 at the 2010 census. Geography Eastpoint is located at (29.741560, -84.876951). According to the United States Census Bureau, the ...

by the long St. George Island Bridge over

Apalachicola Bay Apalachicola may refer to: * Apalachicola people, a group of Native Americans who lived along the Apalachicola River in present-day Florida Places * Apalachicola, Florida *Apalachicola River * Apalachicola Bay * Apalachicola National Forest * Apa ...

. Nearby towns include Eastpoint, Carrabelle, and Apalachicola. St. George Island is informally divided into three regions: the Dr. Julian G. Bruce St. George Island State Park; a public strip of restaurants, bars, small businesses, homes and public beach; and a private, gated housing community with its own airstrip that includes some of the most expensive multimillion-dollar beach homes along the Gulf of Mexico. The island is known for being quiet and tranquil due to its small size. Many occupants of the island rent out their homes during the spring and summer months. , the island has no central sewage system and receives very little funding for road and infrastructure improvements, leading some to believe the island should form its own special taxing district.

St. George Island State Park St. George Island State Park (also known as the Dr. Julian G. Bruce St. George Island State Park) is a Florida State Park located on the east end of St. George Island, approximately 10 miles southeast of Eastpoint, in northwestern Florida. Ge ...

occupies the eastern nine miles (14 km) of the island. People can camp there as well as swim with reservations. Many fishing reservations are also available in the area. The park has a series of hiking trails, boardwalks and observation platforms. Bird watching is a popular activity there. The area is well known for its excellent variety of

and

fish and seafood including

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not ...

s, scallops,

grouper Groupers are fish of any of a number of genera in the subfamily Epinephelinae of the family Serranidae, in the order Perciformes. Not all serranids are called "groupers"; the family also includes the sea basses. The common name "grouper" is ...

, flounder,

redfish Redfish is a common name for several species of fish. It is most commonly applied to certain deep-sea rockfish in the genus ''Sebastes'', red drum from the genus '' Sciaenops'' or the reef dwelling snappers in the genus '' Lutjanus''. It is also a ...

, snapper,

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', '' Salmo'' and '' Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salm ...

, mullet, and others.

History

St. George Island was first inhabited by the

Muscogee The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language), are a group of related indigenous (Native American) peoples of the Southeastern WoodlandsForbes Grant. In 1823 John Lee Williams sought refuge there. With a shortage of food supplies, his crew depended on the island's ample store of oysters and crabs. Soon afterwards, the island experienced a surge in trading activities especially along the banks of the Apalachicola River. This led to the construction of the Cape St. George Lighthouse on the island in 1833. The lighthouse was torn down and rebuilt two miles away in 1847–48, and rebuilt after being destroyed by a hurricane in 1851. It was taken out of service during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, but afterwards served as a navigational tool for incoming ships until it was decommissioned in 1994. Hurricanes in 1995 and 1998 undermined the tower. A new foundation was built under the tower, but it collapsed in 2005. The lighthouse has since been reconstructed. During the early and mid-20th century the island's pine forest was used for

turpentine Turpentine (which is also called spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine, terebenthene, terebinthine and (colloquially) turps) is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin harvested from living trees, mainly pines. Mainly used as a spec ...

production in

naval stores Naval stores are all liquid products derived from conifers. These materials include rosin, tall oil, pine oil, and terpentine. The term ''naval stores'' originally applied to the organic compounds used in building and maintaining wooden sail ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, St. George Island was a practice range for

B-24 The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...

bombers from nearby Apalachicola. In 1954, the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

constructed the ship channel known as Bob Sikes Cut across St. George Island creating Cape St. George Island or "Little St. George Island" and enhanced its remoteness. The cut is used by the

fishing fleet A fishing fleet is an aggregate of commercial fishing vessels. The term may be used of all vessels operating out of a particular port, all vessels engaged in a particular type of fishing (as in the "tuna fishing fleet"), or all fishing vessels of ...

from Apalachicola and provides an access to the Gulf waters from the bayside. Prior to 1960, the only access to the island was by ferry or other seacraft. In the mid-1960's a bridge connecting St. George Island to the mainland in Eastpoint, Florida was built paving the way for the expansion of tourism and development of the island. In 1971, 4,600 acres including 17 miles of beachfront property on St. George Island (and adjacent Little St. George Island) was purchased by Leisure Properties, Ltd. In 1973, the proprietors of Leisure Properties, Gene D. Brown, a prominent attorney from Tallahassee, and John Stocks, a real estate developer from Alabama, negotiated the sale of 1,800 acres at the east end of the island to the State of Florida to be designated as a state park. That area of the island is now known as St. George Island State Park, or alternatively "Dr. Julian G. Bruce St. George Island State Park." In 2013, Forbes ranked the beach at St. George Island State Park as the third best in the United States. Brown and Stocks envisioned developing St. George Island into an exclusive resort vacation destination and they used the money from the sale of the State Park to develop the island for residential and commercial use. Brown and Stocks also designed and developed a private gated upscale residential community on the west end of the island known as St. George's Plantation. Their vision for the Plantation included luxury single-family homes, condominiums, a 200-slip marina, a luxury hotel, and convention center, restaurants, a spa, horse stables, and an airport. But their commercial plans were systematically met with great resistance from environmentalists and politicians, and eventually even the homeowners themselves. Brown and Stocks dissolved their partnership in 1981, but they each continued to develop their respective interests on the island. Brown developed the Plantation through a new venture, Gene D. Brown and Company, on a smaller scale that includes a community center and an airstrip for residents. Today St George's Plantation boasts hundreds of multi-million-dollar luxury homes inside a private gated community. As part of Leisure Properties’ sale of the State Park land back in 1973, Gene Brown also negotiated an agreement with the State of Florida to build a water system to provide potable water to the island. That private utility company still exists today. Now known as Water Management Services, Inc., the utility company is regulated by the Public Service Commission and the Department of Environmental Protection and provides water to over 2000 service locations on the island. St. George Island has now become one of Florida's most coveted beach vacation destinations. The island “consistently rates as one of the top beaches in the United States with miles of uncrowded expanses for sunning and shelling, clear Gulf waters for swimming and fishing, and pristine marshes for a wildlife viewing.” In 2022, foremost beach expert Dr. Beach ranked St. George Island number 4 on his 2022 Top 10 Beaches list.

Geography

The island is composed of mostly sand dunes with sea oats and pine trees. The west end of the island is known as the St George Plantation. It spans over with 24/7 security and accessible only to owners and their rental designees. It is quite a bit wider than the eastern portion of the island.

Vegetation

Scrub and

sea oats ''Uniola paniculata'', also known as sea oats, seaside oats, araña, and arroz de costa, is a tall subtropical grass that is an important component of coastal sand dune and beach plant communities in the southeastern United States, eastern Me ...

can be found on the newer dunes,

slash pine ''Pinus elliottii'', commonly known as slash pine,Family, P. P. (1990). Pinus elliottii Engelm. slash pine. ''Silvics of North America: Conifers'', (654), 338. is a conifer tree native to the Southeastern United States. Slash pine is named after ...

flatwoods in the older relic dunes. The western part of the island is more forested while the eastern two-thirds is more sparse in trees.

Wildlife

St. George Island is a known nesting ground for

loggerhead sea turtle The loggerhead sea turtle (''Caretta caretta'') is a species of oceanic turtle distributed throughout the world. It is a marine reptile, belonging to the family Cheloniidae. The average loggerhead measures around in carapace length when fully ...

s. They come to the beach to lay their eggs between the months of May and October.

References

{{authority control Gulf Coast barrier islands of Florida Beaches of Franklin County, Florida Islands of Franklin County, Florida Seaside resorts in Florida Beaches of Florida Islands of Florida