Glynn County

Welcome to the Golden Isles. Welcome to Coastal Georgia.

Brunswick, Jekyll Island, St. Simons Island, Sea Island, and Little St. Simons Island

Map created by the Glynn Co. Sr. 4-H

                 Photo of EPA Superfund Site "Terry Creek"-taken by the Glynn Co. Sr. 4-H                 

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Georgia County Map

Large Scale Locator

Map created by the Glynn Co. Sr. 4-H

Small Scale Locator Map

                                       Map created by the Glynn Co. Sr. 4-H                                        

History of Glynn County

  The Creek and Cherokee inhabited what is now Georgia when Hernando De Soto and his expedition passed through the region around 1540. (It is believed that the Creek, Yamasee, Guale, Yuchi, the Timucua-speaking Mocama, and Seminole were the main Native American peoples in the Glynn Co. area c.1550s-1740s.)

  Ponce de Leon claimed the southern coast for Spain in 1513 and the Spanish established missions and garrisons on the Sea Islands beginning in 1568. From 1606 to 1655 the Spanish missionary effort reached its zenith as the Franciscan missions reflected a steady growth. San Buenaventura de Guadalquini was established on St. Simons Island, San Jose de Zapala on Sapelo Island, and Santiago de Ocone near the Okefenokee Swamp. The possibility of attack from the English and the Indians loyal to them was a constant fear to the Spanish. This fear was realized when the Chichimecos returned in 1680 to attack the towns of Santa Catalina and San Simón. The English pirates terrorized the Mocama and Guale coast in 1683. In the following year, the Timucuans abandoned St. Simons Island forever.

Historical map: Carl Vinson Institute of Government Library-UGA (above)

  In 1663, King Charles II of England made a grant of land that included Georgia to the eight proprietors of Carolina.  However, Spain claimed the whole eastern half of the present United States and protested the grant. The English ignored the protest, and the English-Spanish contest for the territory between Charleston, SC and St. Augustine, FL began. England decided to use Georgia as a buffer to protect South Carolina and utilized Fort Frederica on St. Simons Island as a stronghold against the Spanish.   The English philanthropist James E. Oglethorpe received a charter from King George II in June 1732 (hence the name given to the colony). Georgia was planned as a refuge for debtors from England.  In 1739, war broke out  between Spain and England and in 1742, Oglethorpe defeated the Spanish in the battle of the Bloody Marsh.  This battle effectively ended Spain's claim to the land north of the St. Mary's River.                                                                                                                                               

  Glynn County was one of the eight original counties in Georgia and was named for British House of Commons member, John Glynn.  Glynn defended the cause of the American Colonies before the American Revolution. The city of Brunswick was founded in 1771 and named for Brunswick-Lueneburg in Germany.  This was the ancestral home of King George II of Great Britain and state namesake. Many of the street names reflect the city's English influences.  Names such as: Gloucester, Newcastle, Norwich, London, Halifax, and Hanover are streets still in use today. The city was mapped following the American Revolution by the Royal Province of Georgia in 1771, following James Oglethorpe's Savannah Plan. Georgia was admitted as one of the original Thirteen Colonies in 1788. In 1789, George Washington proclaimed Brunswick as one the five original ports of entry for the Colonies. It wasn't until 1797 that the Georgia General Assembly transferred the county seat of Glynn County from Frederica on St. Simons Island to Brunswick.

Early 1900s Postcard of Downtown Brunswick

Postcard is the property of the Glynn Co. Sr. 4-H

1913 Downtown Brunswick Map

Historical map: Digital Library of Georgia (above)

Map created by the Glynn Co. Sr. 4-H

Geography of Glynn County

  Glynn County and the City of Brunswick are located in southeast coastal Georgia, at approximately 31.12 North (latitude) and -81.45 West (longitude), or about half way between Jacksonville, Florida and Savannah, Georgia.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Brunswick has a total area of 25.2 square miles(mi²) and Glynn Co. encompasses a total area of 585 mi². (422 mi² of it is land and 163 mi² of it is water.) The northern boundary of Glynn Co. is the Altamaha River, the southern boundary is the Little Satilla River, and the eastern boundary is the Atlantic Ocean.  The Turtle River and the South Brunswick River split through the center of the county, almost to the western boundary.  Thus a large area of the populated portion of the county borders along the coastal marshlands, rivers or streams, resulting in much of the populated areas being in low lying areas ranging from a few feet up to 10-14 feet above mean sea level. The Intracoastal Waterway passes between Brunswick and St. Simons Island, utilizing the South  Brunswick River and the Mackay River.  

Local Watershed Map

Map created by the Glynn Co. Sr. 4-H

The great Altamaha and Satilla wrap our

community in their quiet meandering arms. 

Map created by the Glynn Co. Sr. 4-H

What is a Watershed
   A watershed is the area of land where all of the water that is under it or drains off of it goes into the same place. John Wesley Powell, scientist geographer, put it best when he said that a watershed is:"that area of land, a bounded hydrologic system, within which all living things are inextricably linked by their common water course and where, as humans settled, simple logic demanded that they become part of a community." Watersheds come in all shapes and sizes. They cross county, state, and national boundaries. No matter where you are, you're in a watershed! -EPA

  "Georgia has 44,056 miles of perennial (year-round flow) streams, 23,906 miles of intermittent (flow during rain events and wet seasons) streams and 603 miles of ditches and canals running into 14 major river basins, 4.8 million acres of wetlands, 425,582 acres of lakes and reservoirs, and 854 square miles of estuaries. These river systems carve Georgia into many watersheds, the land areas that drain to a single body of water. Georgia’s 14 major river basins are watersheds for their surrounding land area. The basins include the Oconee, Ocmulgee, Altamaha, Chattahoochee, Ogeechee, St. Mary’s, Satilla, Ochlockonee, Suwannee, Coosa, Tallapoosa, Tennessee, and Savannah River Basins. These large basins are further divided into 52 smaller watersheds."-Southern Regional Water Program, CSREES  

   From swamps to marshlands, rivers to ocean, our community is quilted with the movement of water.  We support our families in occupations which exploit the proximity to the ocean: tourism, fishing (shrimping and seafood processing), real estate development, and container shipping (Brunswick Port Authority). We also include water in much of our recreation and love for wildlife.  Once you watch the sun go down on a high tide marsh and witness the red-wing blackbirds dart through the golden grass, well you are hooked like a daddy Kingfish. 

"Our Fun Map"

Map created by the Glynn Co. Sr. 4-H

The beach is our favorite place to hang out!

Other sites you might catch us at:

Summer Waves (water park) and Tidelands 4-H Nature Center

Putt-putt golf

Pier and Lighthouse

 East Beach

Fort Frederica

DNR Earth Day Nature Trail

Mary Ross Waterfront Park

Blythe Island Reg. Park and Archery Range

Colonial Mall

Strike Zone (bowling)

Photo of Coastal Georgia 4-H'ers- taken by the Glynn Co. Sr. 4-H

Geocaching Map

Map created by the Glynn Co. Sr. 4-H on the Geocaching web site (our coordinates)

What is Geocaching?

"Geocaching is an entertaining adventure game for gps users. Participating in a cache hunt is a good way to take advantage of the wonderful features and capability of a gps unit. The basic idea is to have individuals and organizations set up caches all over the world and share the locations of these caches on the internet. GPS users can then use the location coordinates to find the caches. Once found, a cache may provide the visitor with a wide variety of rewards. All the visitor is asked to do is if they get something they should try to leave something for the cache."

How do you pronounce Geocaching?

"You pronounce it Geo-cashing, like cashing a check."

Are there any other names for Geocaching?

"The GPS Stash Hunt, Global Positioning Stash hunt is interchangeable. Geocaching has become the standard for the game, however. The word Geocaching broken out is GEO for geography, and CACHING for the process of hiding a cache. A cache in computer terms is information usually stored in memory to make it faster to retrieve, but the term is also used in hiking/camping as a hiding place for concealing and preserving provisions." -information from the geocaching web site: www.geocaching.com

Demographics

   The 2000 census reports that there were 67,568 people, 27,208 households, and 18,392 families residing in Glynn county. The population density was 160/mi². There were 32,636 housing units at an average density of 77/mi². The racial makeup of the county was 70.66% White, 26.45% Black or African American, 0.26% Native American, 0.60% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.88% from other races, and 1.09% from two or more races. 2.99% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

   There were 27,208 households out of which 30.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.50% were married couples living together, 14.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.40% were non-families. 27.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.95.

   In the county the population was spread out with 25.30% under the age of 18, 8.20% from 18 to 24, 27.60% from 25 to 44, 24.50% from 45 to 64, and 14.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 91.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.50 males.

   The median income for a household in the county was $38,765, and the median income for a family was $46,984. Males had a median income of $34,363 versus $23,558 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,707. 15.10% of the population and 11.60% of families were below the poverty line. 22.10% of those under the age of 18 and 11.90% of those 65+ were living below the poverty line.

  There are four inhabited barrier islands in Glynn County.  One, Little St. Simons, only has several permanent residents.  The other three, Sea Island, St. Simons Island, and Jekyll Island are all more heavily populated with permanent residents and a large tourist population during the summer months. 

Population Maps

Map created by Glynn Co. Sr. 4-H

Map created by Glynn Co. Sr. 4-H

Map created by Glynn Co. Sr. 4-H

Map created by Glynn Co. Sr. 4-H

  The majority of the population, business and industry, is located in the eastern two thirds of the county, that area east of Georgia 99.  The area west of Georgia 99 is rural and is primarily forest agriculture with the trees being harvested for the paper industry. The main travel arteries are Interstate 95 which bisects the county north to south and US-17 which runs parallel to I-95. Highway 520/US-82 runs east to west in the southern part of the county, starting at I-95 and runs into central Georgia.

     Many Glynn County residents live in the eastern part of the county.

This presents several problems when an evacuation becomes necessary. 

Evacuations due to the surge caused by a hurricane or flooding caused by rain result in very slow travel conditions into central Georgia.

Glynn County Schools/Surge Map

Map created by Glynn Co. Sr. 4-H on the Glynn Co. GIS web site

  A "Category One" hurricane will cause flooding of most roads in Glynn County, including some of the primary evacuation routes.  A "Category Two" hurricane will cut off every evacuation route out of the county.  It will also cause flood at all Glynn County schools (see above). Therefore, if someone decides to stay behind and ride out the storm, they may lose the opportunity to leave as the roads become flooded. 

*Everyone is encouraged to leave early to avoid being stranded.

Map created by Glynn Co. GIS and reproduced with permission by the Glynn Co. Sr. 4-H

IMPORTANT PHONE NUMBERS

Map created by the Glynn Co. Sr. 4-H

  If you do not have transportation out of the area, please call 554-7826

or 267-5678 to notify the Glynn County EMA.

  The county is providing buses to pick-up residents from nine community locations.  Buses will transport residents to shelters inland.  *1 bag per person and no pets will be allowed. 

(Make arrangements for your pets ahead of time.)

Community Pick-up Locations:

*Retreat Plaza, Winn Dixie Parking Lot, St. Simons Island

*Shops at Sea Island, Harris Teeter Parking Lot, St. Simons Island

*Lanier Plaza, Winn Dixie Parking Lot, 1919 Glynn Ave., Brunswick

*Colonial Mall, 100 Blvd., Brunswick

*Mary Ross Park, Bay St., Brunswick

*Selden Park, 3401 Ross Rd., Brunswick

*Satilla Marsh Elementary School, 129 Southport Pky., Brunswick

*Brunswick West Shopping Center, Winn Dixie Parking Lot, 5420 New Jesup Hwy., Brunswick

*Sterling Baptist Church, 7071 New Jesup Hwy., Brunswick

Hurricane Dora - September 5-14, 1964  

 Dora was the first hurricane to impact northeast Florida

and southeast Georgia in roughly 79 years.  Tides peaked at 12 feet at

Anastasia Island and many streets and homes were flooded in Glynn Co.

Hazardous Waste Site Map

Map created by the Glynn Co. Sr. 4-H

Four Superfund Sites

  The Hanlin Group, Inc. maintained a facility named "LCP Chemicals" in Glynn County, just outside the corporate limits of Brunswick.  The company was found responsible for dumping 150 tons of mercury into Purvis Creek, a tributary of the Turtle River and surrounding tidal marshes between the mid-1980s and its closure in 1994.

  Two executives were sentenced to prison time over the incident.

The LCP facility had been declared a Superfund site when it closed in 1994 and was already under scrutiny by the EPA when Service biologists discovered mercury poisoning in endangered wood storks on St. Simons Island. Fish, shellfish, crabs, and shrimp taken in coastal waters as well as other bird species also contained the toxic metal. The Service traced the source of the contamination to the LCP plant and documented the extent of the damage to wildlife resources–an effort that resulted in the addition of Endangered Species Act charges to those that would be brought against Hanlin and its officers.
 

Superfund sites in Glynn County:

LCP Chemicals

Brunswick Wood Preserving

Hercules 009 Landfill

Terry Creek Dredge Spoil Areas/Hercules Outfall

THERE IS NO GETTING AROUND THIS HAZARDOUS WASTE!

We've got to pick it up!

Photo of the Glynn Co. Sr. 4-H

  After the Glynn Co. Sr. 4-H'er, Sea Monkeys had walked East Beach, St. Simons Island as part of their Orange-Tide marsh water tracking study (7/09/2005), students started talking about the amount of pet feces on the beach. So the next day, they invited a Georgia DNR representative to walk the beach with them. The 4-H'ers used GPS units to mark the location of the feces and collected the "data" to weigh and discard safely.  After walking the low tide beach for two hours and roughly one mile, the teens had marked 71 waypoints and removed 8 1/2 pounds of feces. They also removed a bucket of trash.  The following day, the students GPS'ed the location of trash cans at East Beach. 

  Then the students layered the waypoint data into several maps. From the aerial map (below), local officials were able to see an obvious gap in trash can placements as well as how pet feces could easily be picked up by the high tide and moved around the beach.  GROSS!  Who wants to swim in that?! 

  With this information in hand, the teens developed a spin off study called the "Brown-Tide" and a community awareness campaign called, "Stoop and Scoop".  Among the many recommendations and activities, the students invented a pet bag dispenser using a 5 gallon water bottle turned upside down (with strategically drilled holes) and stocked with recycled grocery bags. These dispensers now assist beach goers and pet walkers with tidying up the beach.  Today we are all exposed to a little less enterococcus bacteria, unsightly smell, and flip-flop nuisance. Yeah!

Map created by the Glynn Co. Sr. 4-H

Map created by the Glynn Co. Sr. 4-H

_________________________________________________________________________________

Sources: Digital Library of Georgia, Carl Vinson Institute of Government Library-UGA,

Georgia DNR, Glynn Co. GIS, Glynn Co. EMA, EPA, NOAA, New Georgia Encyclopedia, ESRI

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