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Is the mystery solved?
Wed, May 25, 2005
What could be the lost site of the home of Gen. James Oglethorpe is headed for a federal land swap and excavation. By AMY HORTON CARTER The Brunswick NewsThe foundation that Georgia's statehood was built upon may still exist in the dwindling wilds on the north end of St. Simons Island.Within about a mile of the tabby ruins of Fort Frederica and the 18th century town it briefly supported is another archaeological site thought to contain the remains of Georgia's first governor's mansion, the only home that Georgia's founding father, Gen. James Oglethorpe, built in America.Island lore puts Oglethorpe's 50-acre homestead — referred to alternately through history as "The Farm" and Orange Hall — in various places near Fort Frederica. The National Park Service puts a great deal of credence in one legend in particular which points to a set of tabby ruins northeast of the Fort Frederica National Monument."Oral tradition says that's the property," said Denise Spear, cultural resource specialist at Fort Frederica. "We haven't proven that with archaeology or document records because they didn't keep plats like we do."Enclosed by a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire, the potentially historic site is part of an 8.7-acre tract owned by Sea Island Co. that is proposed for transfer to Fort Frederica's owner, the National Park Service, in a three-way swap with Christ Church, Frederica.Christ Church first proposed to the park service a direct trade of land adjacent to Fort Frederica a decade or more ago, said former U.S. Sen. Mack Mattingly, a member of the church and former member of its Vestry."The long-range plan was that some time in the future the church would need additional property right there adjacent to the church," Mattingly said.Mattingly said Congress got involved in the land swap after the park service continually balked at the church's offers to give about 7 acres it owned along the park's northern edge for 6 acres inside the 250-acre park that lie adjacent to the sanctuary and churchyard cemetery."This probably started at least 10 years ago, maybe a little bit longer," Mattingly said. "They could never succeed in doing it."Then Christ Church brought Sea Island Co. into the deal by offering to give the company approximately 23 acres of land it owns in the vicinity of the church in exchange for the 8.7 acres that contain the suspected Oglethorpe site, a tract the park service was interested in trading for.The most important point of the trade is that the 8.7 acres the park service is gaining are historically significant, while the 6 acres the church is getting out of the park are not, Mattingly said.Mattingly said he testified before Congress in favor of the swap last year, explaining that the Oglethorpe site "had great scientific potential and that it deserved to be protected and nominated for inclusion in the national record of historic places."Jim Gilbert, general counsel for Sea Island, said the company gave the park service permission to protect the tabby ruins while the swap is being negotiated, which led to the property being fenced. Fort Frederica's participation in the land swap was authorized in legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston, R-1, in 2003. It passed both houses of Congress last year. President Bush signed it into law in November.Emily Howard, a legislative adviser to Kingston in Washington, D.C., said archaeological surveys of the land involved in the swap must be completed before it becomes final.Fort Frederica Superintendent Mike Tennent said the park service has known about the suspected Oglethorpe ruins for about 20 years. A very preliminary archaeological survey was done of the tract around that time, he said, but it did not link the site to Oglethorpe.Spear, the fort's cultural resource specialist, said the park service would likely make its case that the site comprises the ruins of Oglethorpe's Orange Hall should it find artifacts related to the Spalding family, which assumed ownership of the land after the military pulled out of Frederica and Oglethorpe returned to England."You wouldn't necessarily find remains connected to Oglethorpe. He left in 1743," Spear said. "You might find remains connected to the Spalding family. The land was in their family for 100 years."History provides ample detail about the appearance and configuration of Oglethorpe's home because Thomas Spalding, who later developed a plantation on Sapelo Island, built a replica of Orange Hall on the south end of St. Simons Island. Spalding named that house Orange Grove. It later housed the Page and King families, developers of Retreat Plantation.
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