Cumberland: Island in Time 
CUMBERLAND ISLAND
The Last Wild Coastal Island in the World
CUMBERLAND is the largest barrier island on the east coast of the United States. Located off the Georgia/Florida border, Cumberland is about the size of Manhattan, but it has only 25 full-time residents. During the Ice Age Cumberland was formed by temperature changes and is still in constant flux today due to the weather and tide. Beginning about 4,000 years ago Native Americans, the 6 1/2-foot-tall Timucuans, live on Cumberland and call it Tacatacuru or Missoe. Piles of oyster shell, which were later used for building tabby structures, are the only evidence of this groups existence. In the mid-1500's, the Spanish came to Cumberland and built San Pedro Fort Mission in attempts to convert the Timucuan to Christianity. In the early 1700's the English unseat the Spanish. During the two countries struggle, Creek Indians side with English. General James Oglethorpe renames the island, Cumberland after a suggestion made by the Chief's son, Toonahowi, who had visited the Duke of Cumberland. The English build two forts at north and south end of the island (Fort St. Andrews and Fort Prince William). They also build a hunting lodge known as Dungeness, named after one of the Duke's homes. In 1783, Revolutionary War General Nathaniel Greene planned the design of his own Dungeness on the same site, but died of heat stroke before it's complete. His widow Catherine Greene, remarries Phineas Miller and together they build the mansion. The Millers intend to harvest the live oak timber for the shipbuilding industry. Eli Whitney is a guest of the Millers and is helped by one of the Miller family in finishing his invention, the Cotton Gin.
The 1800's sees Agriculture, especially Sea Island Cotton, supplant the early lumbering activities. A number of large plantations are built on the Island. The Cumberland plantation era ends when Union troops round up slaves and send them to Amelia Island. The Chimneys at Stafford are all that is left of the slave cabins. Many freed people re-established themselves in a part of the island called "The Settlement." Dungeness burns. In 1881 Thomas Carnegie, brother of financier Andrew, purchases Dungeness property and begins building on the same foundation. Carnegie dies, and his widow, Lucy Coleman Carnegie, finishes Dungeness. It is an incredible mansion with dozens of rooms, and an indoor swimming pool. She also purchases 90 percent of the Island. Dungeness closed in 1920. 1972 - After some fear of commercialization, Cumberland Island National Seashore was established under the supervision of Department of Interior. There is a "limited access" arrangement for campers and daytrippers to come to the island. Some longtime private owners have the option to retain rights for themselves. In 1975 the first ferry boat of daytrippers arrive on Cumberland. The only lodging on the island is the nine-room Greyfield Inn, a house that was once a Carneigie mansion. Mrs. Lucy Ferguson, granddaughter of Thomas Carnegie, owns the inn and 1,300 acres surrounding it. Her adult grandchildren manage the Inn. Five mansions remain on the Island: Greyfield, Plum Orchard (now a museum), the Grange (owned by the Johnsons of Kentucky), and Stafford and Highpoint (owned by the Chandlers). Most of the island is wild. 300 species of birds come to feed and nest on Cumberland. There are also deer, wild turkeys, alligators, otters, raccoons, and sea turtles. The island has an intertwined collection of habitats - sand beaches, dunes, interdune meadows, live oak forests, ponds and marshes. Cumberland's marsh is one of the most expansive in the world.
