Winnwood Retirement
Resort-Style Retirement
• Independent Living
• Fully-Licensed Assisted Living
• No buy-in fees
• Limousine transportation
• Weekly trips
• Family-owned
• Delicious cuisine
• Pet-friendly
• Housekeeping & laundry
• 9 hole putting green
• Two activity directors
• Variety of floorplans
See what residents & family members have to say about life at Winnwood at www.WinnwoodRetire.com
100 Whitlock Avenue, Marietta - One block from the historic Marietta Square
Apartment available now
Call 770-742-7183 to learn more!
The Winn
Pet Friendly
One block from
the Historic
Marietta Square
Putting contests every Monday
A LAYERED HISTORY
For more than 4,000 years, humans have utilized the island
for settlement and supplies. According to the National Park
Service, a Timucuan tribe was the first known inhabitants
of the island, and Spanish priests and soldiers occupied the
land in 1587 with the mission to convert the native population
to Christianity and form an alliance against the British.
When South Carolina was colonized in 1670, conflicts
amongst the Spanish and the British increased. James
Oglethorpe, founder of Savannah, commissioned the
construction of two forts on Cumberland Island in 1736.
Fort St. Andrews was located at the northwest end of the
island and Fort Prince William was at the southern end.
King George’s War in 1740 forced James Oglethorpe to
hand over Cumberland Island, along with the forts, to the
Spanish.
The island remained a no-man’s-land from 1748 to
1763, when the Spanish ceded Florida to the British. At this
time, a planter from South Carolina purchased 7,500 acres
to market and sell as quality land for plantations. The
plantations produced cash crops for export, including citrus
fruit and olives.
By the 1840s, most of the island was cleared for
production. The plantations were prosperous until the Civil
War. During the Civil War, plantation owners abandoned
their lands and slaves. The Union occupied the island and
the waters around it from 1862 until the end of the war.
Most of the African American population fled to nearby
islands. Those that chose to stay created the settlement on
the north end. Following the war and short-lived efforts to
redistribute confiscated land to freed slaves, many of the
landholdings on Cumberland Island reverted to their
pre-war owners.
In the 1870s, the island served as a type of resort to
tourists traveling to Florida by way of train. A steamboat
route brought visitors to the island, where they stayed at
two hotels located at the north end. The Orient Hotel was
located on the river, and the High Point Hotel was later
built on the ocean side. Wealthy industrialist families were
also drawn to the Sea Islands for winter homes.
36 COBB LIFE | SEPTEMBER 2020
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