Decommissioned Lighthouse in GA

Little Cumberland Island Lighthouse, St. Marys Georgia

Date added: October 04, 2023

Categories:
Georgia
Lighthouse

South facade looking east, northeast (1989)

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The Little Cumberland Island Lighthouse is located on the northern end of Little Cumberland Island which is separated by Christmas Creek from Cumberland Island (a/k/a Greater Cumberland Island). Today the lighthouse on Little Cumberland is the southernmost in Georgia.

The Little Cumberland Island Lighthouse is one of five remaining in Georgia today. The others remain at Tybee Island, Cockspur Island, Sapelo Island, and St. Simons Island. They vary as to age, length of service, and size. All were built, as was this one, to protect a particular sea coast or harbor, guiding ships through bad weather and treacherous coasts. While there were also a few lighthouses on Georgia's coast which were totally deactivated and removed, such as the one that was once on Greater Cumberland Island, and the second one built on Sapelo in the early part of this century, the rest remain on or near sites where the lighthouses have stood since their sites were first chosen. The Little Cumberland light is the only one ever to be built at this location.

Little Cumberland today consists of approximately 2200 acres. In the original land grant from King George III to James Habersham of Savannah dated January 6^th, 1767, it was described as "an island of 1400 acres known by the name of Little Cumberland and bounded on the north and east by Sea Beach, south by an inlet, marshes and creeks of the same, and west by marshes and creeks leading therefrom." At one time Little Cumberland was owned by Gen. Nathanael Greene (1742-1786), and later his heirs who also owned a major part of greater Cumberland Island where they lived at Dungeness. Among these heirs were: Catherine Miller (formerly Mrs. Greene), Martha W. Nightingale, Cornelia L. Skipwith, Nathaniel R. Greene, and Louisa C. Greene, who sold the island to John Floyd and Charles Floyd of Camden County, Georgia in a deed dated May 25^th, 1808, for a consideration of $1,000.

The need for a lighthouse at the entrance to St. Andrew Sound was recognized as early as 1802 when money was appropriated by Congress for this purpose. Over the next 35 years, more than $55,000 was appropriated for the construction of a light and more than $30,000 was returned as surplus funds. Finally, in 1838, the light was built, and, according to records of the Lighthouse Board, it remained in continuous operation until the early part of the 20^th century.

In 1817, John Floyd (1769-1839) sold six acres on the north end of the island to the United States government for $500. During 1838, a lighthouse complex was built on that land at a cost of $8,025. The compound included the lighthouse, a keeper's cottage, a warehouse, and a privy. Little Cumberland Lighthouse had a fixed white light on the third order, 78 feet above sea level, and was visible for 14 1/2 nautical miles throughout the horizon (360 degrees).

In 1858 the last slave ship to reach the shores of the United States, the "Wanderer", enlisted the help of the lighthouse keeper to safely guide the ship through St. Andrew Sound to Jekyll Island, the island just north of Little Cumberland. The low featureless country afforded few landmarks to help a navigator unfamiliar with those waters. Constantly sand bars demanded the up-to-date and detailed knowledge of a local pilot. The "Wanderer" made her landfall at Cumberland Lighthouse two miles across St. Andrew Sound from Jekyll Island, it appears probable that she timed her arrival to be offshore before dawn in order to make a night signal for a pilot and to have a full day to offload the Africans. The lighthouse keeper, James Clubb, a retired pilot, guided the "Wanderer" through St. Andrew Sound on November 29^th, 1858.

The lighthouse survived the early part of the War Between the States with little damage. A letter dated March 5^th, 1862 states:

To: Captain T. A. Jenkins
Secretary of the Light-House Board, Washington.

Off the Town of Fernandina, March 5^th, 1862.

SIR: I have the pleasure to inform the Light-House Board that
the light-house on Little Cumberland is in a perfect state of
preservation. The lens was carefully taken down by the lighthouse
keeper, who came to me in St. Andrew Sound, and has
impressed me very favorable by his spirit and loyalty. He thinks
the lens at St. Simon's is with it at Brunswick, where I hope to
recover the same.

The Light-House Board is aware that the light-house on St
. Simon's was destroyed by the rebels.

A large number of buoys have been recovered here. I see no
moorings for them, however. The light-house is uninjured, but I
have not yet discovered the apparatus.

In haste, yours, truly,
S F. Du Pont,
Flag Officer [U.S. Navy]

But, in 1867 it was reported that "extensive repairs have been made to restore it after its damage by the rebels," which was not, however, so extensive that it had to be taken out of service. Shortly thereafter encroachments by the sea from the northwest exposure were serious enough to call for the construction of a large brick wall built to a depth of 2 feet below the tower. The space between the wall and the tower was filled with concrete and covered over with brick to arrest the damage, according to the account. This now presumably lies under the dune. Some of the island residents report the periodic appearance and disappearance of a brick structure at the base of the tower as wind erosion scours and fills. It could be the keeper's house, or perhaps the wall.

In 1879 the "old style tower" (timbers built into the brick-work) began to show need for repair. Iron structural members were installed and the rusted-out iron lantern deck was replaced with a wood deck. This in turn was replaced by an iron deck in 1901, which is probably the one now in place.

This lighthouse on St. Andrew Sound was operated until 1915 by the U.S. government when the last keeper was removed. The light had been decommissioned in 1913, by an act of Congress, who also issued an order that the structure be sold. However, the light was not dimmed until March 15^th, 1915. R. L. Phillips Company, of Brunswick, Georgia, bought the lighthouse and six acres of land at auction in 1923-1924, for $800.

In 1961, the Little Cumberland Island Association, consisting of sixty-five members, purchased the island, including the lighthouse, allowing 10% of the land to be developed as cottages, with the rest left as wilderness. At no time has Little Cumberland Island been farmed, lumbered, grazed, or even extensively lived upon except by lighthouse keepers.

The July 1967, newsletter of the Little Cumberland Island Association states: "The two derelict buildings at the lighthouse are to be removed and the old bricks made available to members wanting to buy them for island construction. Proceeds are to be used to cover the cost of replacing the lighthouse spiral staircase and the steel superstructure."

By early 1969, the Association completed the restoration of the island's lighthouse, and its condition differed remarkably from the one when they took possession of it several years earlier. Sand dunes had drifted twenty feet on one side of the tower, blocking the entrance at the time work began. As the sand was dug away, the spiral stairs were found intact, though water entering from a deteriorated roof had so damaged the lower portions that they were replaced by a replica in the same design. The masonry was as perfect as the day the lighthouse was built, though a steel superstructure at the top had to be restored and eight jalousie windows installed to keep out inclement weather. An original cast iron firepot, providing the light source, is still in place.

Although the tower can be relighted, the Association has no plans to do so, as it might confuse mariners and become a death trap to migrating birds. From atop the Little Cumberland Light is seen St. Andrew's Sound to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, the island to the south, and the Marshes of Glynn on the west.

Lighthouse Description

The Little Cumberland Island Lighthouse is a sixty-foot high circular brick structure, twenty-two feet in diameter at its base, tapering toward the top, which is only eleven feet in diameter, where the light was originally kept. It is a navigational lighthouse constructed in 1838 on a six-acre site. Originally, the site contained a keeper's residence and several support buildings which no longer exist.

The lighthouse is built of common brick, secured by mortar, in a circular shape, and tapers toward the top, which originally contained the light. The top portion is made of wood and glass.

On the interior there is a replacement wooden spiral stair supported by a central wooden post with a mid-level mezzanine wooden platform and then at the top of the wooden stair another wooden platform. From that platform to the next wooden platform/floor there is a cast iron beam that supports the firepot that was used for the original light. There is a small metal ladder leading to this platform/floor. At this upper level, where the light once was, there are now jalousie glass windows on all sides.

On the exterior, it has several small windows asymmetrically arranged at various levels. There is no ornamentation.

The interior walls are whitewashed. There are no surviving historical mechanical systems.

The site is behind a sand dune and is covered with vegetation including live oaks, pines, and native shrubs. While the known outbuildings have all been destroyed, the foundation of the keeper's cottage is partially visible.

The major changes to the property include the demolition of the various outbuildings, the last one being the keeper's residence, torn down in 1968 and the materials being removed. The new spiral staircase inside the lighthouse was installed in 1968, replicating and replacing the original.