Discover Georgia’s Barrier Islands With Your Family

South of Savannah, along the picturesque and historic coastline of Georgia, lies a group of barrier islands known as the Golden Isles. This collection of coastal Sea Islands has attracted people—Native Americans, European settlers and vacationing sun-seekers—throughout history, for the islands’ bountiful resources and appealing climate. Perhaps the brightest jewel of these islands is St. Simons Island. The History Press is proud to release St. Simons Island: A Summary of its History, by local resident and historian Reverend Edwin Green. Green has compiled an informative volume, which highlights the unique and developing history of one of Georgia’s most popular Sea Islands.

Equal parts cultural history and memoir, God, Dr. Buzzard, and the Bolito Man recounts a traditional way of life that is threatened by change, with stories that speak to our deepest notions of family, community, and a connection to one’s homeland. Cornelia Walker Bailey models herself after the African griot, the tribal storytellers who keep the history of their people. Bailey’s people are the Geechee, whose cultural identity has been largely preserved due to the relative isolation of Sapelo, a barrier island off the coast of Georgia. In this rich account, Bailey captures the experience of growing up in an island community that counted the spirits of its departed among its members, relied on pride and ingenuity in the face of hardship, and taught her firsthand how best to reap the bounty of the marshes, woods and ocean that surrounded her. The power of this memoir to evoke the life of Sapelo Island is remarkable, and the history it preserves is invaluable.

Our oceans are eroding, sinking, washing out right under our houses, hotels, bridges; vacation dreamlands become nightmare scenes of futile revetments, fills, groins, what have you - all thrown up in a frantic defense against he natural system. The romantic desire to live on the seashore is in doomed conflict with an age-old pattern of beach migration. Yet it need not be so. Conservationist Wallace Kaufman teams up with marine geologist Orrin H. Pilkey, Jr., in a evaluation of America's beaches from coast to coast, giving sound advice on how to judge a safe beach development from a dangerous one and how to live at the shore sensibly and safely.

Drawing from a wealth of information, particularly from primary sources such as diaries, letters, plantation records, etc., the author has recreated the story of James Hamilton Couper and his times into an exciting, interesting, and readable account. The work begins with an introductory chapter. The Georgia Coast, a land of sluggish rivers, murkey blackwater swamps, and studded with a string of islands, is the home of a special breed of people. The are as wild, reckless, exciting, beautiful, and contradictory as the land itself. Bagwell examines the Couper heritage, from kings, war, and intrigue in Scotland to their firm establishment on the Georgia Coast. As colonial times move into antebellum, the Coupers progress, especially with James Hamilton Couper of Hopeton Plantation. On his grand tour of Europe, many on that continent commented on the abilities and potential of this young man. Couper made quite a name for himself in the area of politics, plantation management, scientific agriculture, archaeology, and architectural design. In the sinking of the Pulaski, he was hailed the hero of the occasion. The publication of this volume will be a valuable addition to the history and culture of the South, especially Georgia and its coast.

In this moving and original work, William S. McFeely, one of this country's most distinguished historians, retells the history, and enters into the current-day lives, of the people who inhabit Sapelo's Island off the coast of Georgia, descendants of slaves who once worked its huge cotton plantations. It is at once a richly detailed work of historical reconstruction, a sensitive portrait of the lives of black Americans in this particular place and in our own time, and a moving meditation on race by a writer who has made its painful dilemmas his life's work as a historian.

Jekyll Island's undisturbed beauty, combined with its pleasant year-round weather and refreshing ocean breezes, provides a breathtaking backdrop for a variety of wonderful experiences. Located midway between Savannah, Georgia and Jacksonville, Florida, Jekyll Island is approximately 5,700 acres and the smallest of Georgia's barrier islands. As a tribute to the Island's allurement, the Jekyll Island Authority has published Jekyll Island The Nearest Faraway Place, a coffee table book recognizing the inspired talent of residents and guests and their ability to capture unique perspectives of our cherished Island. During the period of March through September 2010, a competition was conducted to discover photographs of, and poems about, Jekyll Island. Scenic images and inspiring narratives portraying Jekyll's beach and marsh, sunrise and sunsets, wildlife, nature, historic landmarks, and views from above were sought for inclusion in this project. Submissions included 70 from Georgia, 17 from different states, 4 from Canada and 1 from the United Kingdom. Results of the competition were announced and the winning selections are featured in the commemorative publication. Copyright of the selected works and all rights to publish became property of Jekyll Island Authority. Jekyll Island The Nearest Faraway Place is now currently available at the Visitor Information Center, the Commissary, the Jekyll Island Book Store, the Jekyll Island Museum Store, the Georgia Sea Turtle Center and Hattie's Books in Brunswick.