Tybee Island

The region of the state in which Tybee Island is located is steeped in history. Colonial settlers were in and around Savannah from the early 1700’s. However, Tybee Island itself represents a harsh environment in which weather has limited development and preservation over the years.
The name Tybee is thought to be derived from an Indian word meaning salt meadow. Centuries ago, Tybee Island was part of the Gaulle kingdom of Indians who lived on the seven large barrier islands stretching from Cumberland island to Tybee. Tybee was later a camping ground for local Yamacraw Indian families from the Savannah area who oystered, fished, and collected salt on the island.

In 1520, a Spaniard named Francisco Gordillo landed on Tybee. He was apparently on a slave hunting expedition, upon leaving; he left a knife and a rosary on the island. Hernandez Desoto’s 1540 expedition found these items on Tybee while they were charting the island. It is interesting to note that a great deal of contemporary archeological work is finding more extensive evidence of Spanish settlement on the Georgia barrier islands than was previously suspected.

For the next two centuries, Tybee was used as an occasional landing and supply point by Indians and Spanish, French, and British expeditions. It was declared a part of the trustee’s colony of Georgia in 1733. According to church records, John Wesley held his first prayer service on the American continent on Estill hammock in 1736. During the same year, a lighthouse was built on the north end of Tybee Island. It was built on cedar piles with a brickwork base; it was 25 feet square at the base and 90 feet high. It employed a whale oil lamp to alert shipping to the presence of the island and the nearby mouth of the Savannah River.

During the era of plantation agriculture along the coast, Tybee Island was used as a dueling ground by South Carolinians who sought to a void their state’s anti-dueling laws. British soldiers constructed Fort Tybee in the 1750’s where Fort Screven now stands. When the British occupied Savannah during the revolutionary war, loyalists settled on Tybee and carried out a lucrative trade with the passing merchant ships. The Americans staged a small boat attack on the island one night, and burned the Tory settlement. In 1782, Tybee became a staging area for British loyalists who were emigrating from Georgia to Canada and the West Indies.

In 1804, a great hurricane leveled all of the structures on Tybee Island as well as a two-story Fort on adjacent Cockspur Island. No further military construction was attempted on the island until 1829 when work on Fort Pulaski was begun. Robert E. Lee was one of the military engineers who worked on the Fort’s design and construction. The island was largely a seasonal fishing and camping ground. Another great hurricane hit the island in 1854, a storm that was so strong that it permanently changed the course of several local creeks.

After the war, Tybee lay dormant. Dr. James P. Screven bought most of the island, and after his death, large lots were surveyed and sold. An 1875 subdivision map prepared by Charles G. Platen shows that 90 percent of the island was owned by the five persons: Joseph Tatnell, Katherine Mutryne, J. Young, Mary Farley, and the Screven estate. It is supposed that small tracts along the Tybee Roads (Savannah River) were owned by river pilots and their crews.

In 1875, the United States government purchased 138 acres of the island from the Screven estate and individual landholders. The Fort Screven community was established and was to continue under military government until 1946, when it was turned over to the municipal government of Savannah Beach.

In the late 1800’s settlement occurred along the riverfront. A wharf was built, and steamboat service was begun. Tybee then began its growth as an ocean-beach resort. As early as 1883, a railroad had been planned to serve the island. The Tybee Railroad Company began laying the bed, but it failed financially. The effort then was reorganized as the Savannah and Atlantic railroad. The railroad was completed and sold to the Central Railroad, which operated it until 1933, when the new U. S. Highway 80 made railroad passage to Tybee obsolete.

The last great hurricane to come ashore at Tybee did so in 1898, at which time the island was covered and sustained major damage to 80 percent of its structures. There was also significant loss of life during this storm. Paradoxically, as shown from studies done by Martha Griffin (Georgia Department of Natural Resources) and by Frank Poesy and Wade Seyle (U. S.  Army Corps of Engineers), the island’s land mass had enlarged appreciably through 1900,despite the serious storms. However, the island’s beaches have eroded steadily from 1925 to the present. Millions of dollars have been used for erosion protection, and it is expected that millions more will be necessary in an attempt to maintain the island’s present physical boundaries.

There remain at least three particularly important historic landmarks on the island. They are the Tybee Lighthouse and

Museum, Fort Screven, and the Fresh Air Home. All three contribute to Tybee’s historic culture. All three warrant protection in the planning process.

The Tybee lighthouse is the oldest and tallest lighthouse in Georgia. In 1773, a 100-foot tall Daymark tower was erected to aid ship traffic along the eastern seaboard and Savannah River. During the Civil War, Confederate troops destroyed the upper levels of the tower to hinder Union advances. The present lighthouse was built in 1867 top the 1773 foundation. It is 154 feet tall and constructed of brick and metal. It was converted from oil to electricity in 1933, using a single bulb of 1,000 watts. Light through the 10 foot Fresnel lens can be seen from 18 miles out at sea. There are a total of six historic buildings on the Tybee Island lighthouse site, the oldest being the kitchen (circa 1812). Other buildings on the sites include the oil house and the keeper’s cottage.

After World War II, the government closed Fort Screven, and the houses and other property were sold. Several of the structures on Fort Screven have been adapted for modern day use. Battery Garland is currently the home of the Tybee Island museum. Batteries Gantt, Habersham and a portion of Brumby, are now privately owned.

The Fresh Air Home was founded and established by Miss Nina Anderson Pape for the purposes of increasing health and happiness of disadvantaged children. Miss Pape was the founder and the first president of the Froebel Circle, the organization responsible for supporting the home through donations and gifts. Established on one rented floor of a cottage in 1898, the home was originally a convalescent home that could accommodate 50 children. It expanded to its current location at 900-Butler Avenue in 1929 and now provides a vacation for approximately 100 children every two weeks during the summer.

There are no historic commercial districts on Tybee Island, but there is one historic residential district, Ft. Screven. Nine two-story homes were built on officers’ row to provide housing for the ranking officers and their families. They were constructed of cypress and pine and raised above ground level on brick and granite piers. The homes were built on a crescent shaped berm, which provided protection from erosion while providing a good view of the Atlantic shoreline. Today the houses are privately occupied and maintained. The exterior of the buildings has been changed little since the occupation era of Fort Screven, and they have retained much of their historic charm.

Rural resource areas on Tybee consist of two community parks and the extensive marshlands. Jaycee and Memorial parks are the two community parks that provide recreational opportunities for residents and visitors to Tybee Island. The parks provide desirable undeveloped open space.

Equipped with playground equipment and picnic facilities for the use and enjoyment of the community. The marshes provide important fishing and other outdoor recreational activity.

Located at the north end of Tybee Island, the Martello tower was built for the United States government by Isaiah Davenport of Savannah in the early 1820’s. It was one of six towers constructed along the Atlantic coast as part of a coastal defense system. However, none of the Martello towers were ever used in an engagement against enemy forces. By the time of the Civil War, the tower had deteriorated considerably. In a letter written by John Screven on January 13, 1861, he described the tower as a tabby and wood structure 24 feet wide at the base, 34 feet tall with the walls that were 11 feet, 6 inches thick at the base. Many of the wood supports had rotted away, but the tabby walls were in sound condition. The land occupied by the tower was included within Fort Screven. It was destroyed just prior to World War I on orders of the United States government. Today there are only archaeological remains of the Martello tower.

In 1887, the Savannah and Atlantic railroad was completed to Tybee Island. It was bought by the Central of Georgia Railway in 1890 and continued under this management until the Tybee railroad was abandoned in 1933. Probably more than any other thing, the railroad made Tybee Island the greatest seaside resort in Georgia by making the island easily accessible to everyone. The line ran 14 miles from Savannah to Tybee and required about a one-hour ride to complete. Completion of U. S. Highway 80 in June 1923 was the beginning of the end for the Tybee railroad. Business declined, and 10 years later the line was abandoned. Much of the old railroad grade still exists today. In 1991 the Chatham County rails into trails committee began efforts to convert a portion of the abandoned railroad grade into a multi-purpose hiking and bicycle trail.

Of all the piers and pavilions built on Tybee, Tybrisa was the largest and best known. The Central of Georgia Railway operated it. The Tybrisa Company purchased the pavilion from Central of Georgia in 1924. A fire in 1967 destroyed the pavilion. It was not rebuilt until 1996/97 by use of 1% sales tax monies appropriated by Chatham County. The remaining support poles from the pier were removed as a public safety measure, and today there is little remaining physical evidence of Tybrisa. Just north of 16th street, the approach entrance to Tybrisa can still be seen.

Lazaretto was a small settlement established near Lazaretto Creek during the colonial period as a quarantine station. The name lazaretto is an Italian word meaning "pest house." ailing people entering into Savannah from foreign countries were kept at a hospital until they recovered. There is at least one marked grave and probably undiscovered additional archaeological evidence of lazaretto located immediately south of US Highway 80 near Lazaretto Creek.

Tybee has remnants of Union and Civil war batteries. Early in the Civil War,

Union forces fought for control of the Atlantic coastline to impede importation of supplies for the Confederacy. In 1861, Confederate forces abandoned Tybee Island, which was quickly occupied by Union forces that began making preparations for a siege on Confederate-held Fort Pulaski. The union constructed eleven batteries along the north shore of Tybee Island and at goat point. On April 10 and 11, 1862, the Union forces bombarded the Fort with such effective results that the Confederate forces surrendered after thirty hours.

A unit of the National Park Service, Fort Pulaski National Monument consists of over 5,000 acres on Cockspur and Mcqueen islands. This fort is immediately adjacent to Tybee Island and is of great interest to local resident. The entire monument is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and contains such significant cultural resources as Fort Pulaski, Cockspur Island lighthouse, Battery Hambright and a memorial to John Wesley. The monument was established by proclamation of president Calvin Coolidge on October 15, 1924, and transferred to the National Park Service on July 28, 1933. It currently receives over 400,000 visitors per year. Fort Pulaski was built between 1829 and 1847, and consists of approximately 25 million bricks. On January 3, 1861, the Georgia State Militia seized the Fort on orders from Governor Joseph E. Brown. After Georgia seceded on January 19, 1861, Fort Pulaski was transferred to the Confederate States of America. A decisive battle for control of the Fort on April 10 and 11, 1862, resulted in the defeat of Confederate forces holding Fort Pulaski. Union forces retained control of the fort for the remainder of the war.