Satilla River Waterfront Park, boardwalk bench

The Satilla River rises in

Ben Hill County, Georgia Ben Hill County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,194. The county seat is Fitzgerald. The county was organized in 1906. It is named after Benjamin Harvey Hill, a former Confederate ...

, United States, near the town of

Fitzgerald The FitzGerald/FitzMaurice Dynasty is a noble and aristocratic dynasty of Cambro-Norman, Anglo-Norman and later Hiberno-Norman origin. They have been peers of Ireland since at least the 13th century, and are described in the Annals of the ...

, and flows in a mostly easterly direction to the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. Along its approximately U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed April 21, 2011 course are the cities of Waycross, Waynesville, and Woodbine. The Satilla drains almost of land, all of it in the

coastal plain A coastal plain is flat, low-lying land adjacent to a sea coast. A fall line commonly marks the border between a coastal plain and a piedmont area. Some of the largest coastal plains are in Alaska and the southeastern United States. The Gulf Coa ...

of southeastern Georgia. It has white sandbars and is the largest

blackwater river A blackwater river is a type of river with a slow-moving channel flowing through forested swamps or wetlands. As vegetation decays, tannins leach into the water, making a transparent, acidic water that is darkly stained, resembling black te ...

situated entirely within Georgia. The Satilla enters the

about south of Brunswick, at the

31st parallel north The 31st parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 31 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Africa, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America and the Atlantic Ocean. At this latitude the sun is visible for 14 hours, 10 ...

. Satilla River Marsh Island The river derives its name from a Spanish officer named Saint Illa, and over time the name was corrupted to form the word Satilla. French explorer

Jean Ribault Jean Ribault (also spelled ''Ribaut'') (1520 – October 12, 1565) was a French naval officer, navigator, and a colonizer of what would become the southeastern United States. He was a major figure in the French attempts to colonize Florida. A H ...

named the river the Somme when he encountered it in 1562. The river was later given the name Aisne by

Jacques le Moyne Jacques le Moyne de Morgues ( 1533–1588) was a French artist and member of Jean Ribault's expedition to the New World. His depictions of Native American life and culture, colonial life, and plants are of extraordinary historical importa ...

Ecology

The Satilla River is one of the few places in Georgia for observing nesting sites of

brown pelican The brown pelican (''Pelecanus occidentalis'') is a bird of the pelican family, Pelecanidae, one of three species found in the Americas and one of two that feed by diving into water. It is found on the Atlantic Coast from New Jersey to the mout ...

s. In May 2010, the city of Waycross purchased the Bandalong Litter Trap and installed it in Tebeau Creek, a tributary of the Satilla River. The trap was invented in Australia, but is manufactured in the United States by Storm Water Systems. Although the city has maintained a good standing with the Environmental Protection Division, the city wanted to take action to reduce the amount of human generated trash entering the Satilla River and, ultimately, the Atlantic Ocean.Storm Water Solutions Magazine, estormwater.com, May 26, 2010
"Georgia’s First Bandalong Litter Trap Launched''
/ref>

References

External links

* Rivers of Georgia (U.S. state) Rivers of Ben Hill County, Georgia Rivers of Ware County, Georgia Rivers of Brantley County, Georgia Rivers of Camden County, Georgia Rivers of Glynn County, Georgia {{GeorgiaUS-river-stub