Rarely Available Frederica Home

The real estate listing might read something like this:

RARELY AVAILABLE FREDERICA HOME in prestigious, secure, gated community.  Modern, two-story detached home has original tabby foundation.  Recent upgrades include replacement of oak walls with imported brick and addition of baking oven.   Housing lot includes 50 country acres, perfect for farming or gardening enthusiast.  Community is secured by stone walls with additional protection from an in ground dry moat and dedicated on-site security services staffed by the 42nd Regiment of Foot.   Location offers easy access for your commute up or down the Frederica River.  Join this innovative planned community, designed by renowned developer, James Oglethorpe.  Community has all your desired services and amenities including cooperage, apothecary and five taverns.  Talented chandler, shoemaker, and blacksmith also live on site.  Ideal homeowner will bring enthusiasm and skills.  Pets and smoking allowed, but community has strict no slave policy.  British government to cover closing costs.  Creative financing available. 
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Frederica was indeed a planned community, carefully thought out and deliberated from its inception.

In 1732, James Oglethorpe obtained a charter from the British government to establish a new colony in North America.  This was notable if not simply for the fact that a colony had not been initiated there by Britain in over fifty years.

Oglethorpe's pursuit was particularly remarkable, however, for other reasons.  Unlike many of the colonies that had been previously established, the new Georgia Colony was founded to achieve the noble goals of

1. alleviating poverty in Britain
2. developing a model society and economy based on the principles of agrarian equality.

Alarmed by the growing population of poor people in Britain and dismayed by the imprisonment of many of these people simply because they could not pay their debts, Oglethorpe petitioned for these "worthy poor" to be given a second chance.  He saw a new colony as the perfect place for this fresh beginning to be played out for imprisoned debtors.  

Oglethorpe also had great visions of a classless society, one that would contrast Britain's growing divide between the masses of poor and the elite landowners and aristocrats.

In Georgia under Oglethorpe's vision, land ownership would be limited to fifty acres with no further acquisition of land allowed through purchase or inheritance.

Furthermore, colonists were to work their own land, and this was supported by an outright ban on slavery.  This opposition to slavery seems less founded on moral principles rather than on the idea that slavery would weaken the poor, hardworking colonists and allow them to become "idle" and lazy.  Ever insightful, he realized that even hardworking folk would choose not to work if they could make others do the work for them.  Basically, slavery would undermine Oglethorpe's social experiment.

Oglethorpe was able to gain backing for his ban on slavery from the British government because Spain at that time offered freedom to any slaves who joined their military efforts against the British colonists.  Enslaved Africans were thus seen as a threat to Georgia's military security.

Along the same lines of not trusting the colonists' self-motivation and drive, Oglethorpe also did not trust their self-discipline and ability to resist temptation, and had rum and other hard spirits banned. Beer, wine, and ale were allowed.

Ok, no slaves, no rum.  What else can this man take away?!  Lawyers, of course!!  Oglethorpe believed each colonist should be capable of speaking for himself, and planned for Georgia to be "free from the pest and scourge of mankind called lawyers."

So, work hard, be sober (or at least not too drunk), and speak up for yourself, colonists!

How did this utopian vision of an idyllic society pan out?

In the end, the settlers that Oglethorpe and his fellow trustees brought over were not necessarily the poor that Oglethorpe had originally planned to rescue.  In fact, the first group of colonists in Georgia were all carefully selected for specific skills deemed necessary for the colony's success and did not include any imprisoned debtors.

The classless society that Oglethorpe envisioned unfortunately did not develop, or if it did, was short-lived.   The settlers soon figured out that Georgian soil was fertile and became jealous of their northern neighbors in South Carolina who were becoming rich with slave-worked rice and cotton plantations.  In 1951, legislation allowing slavery was passed, and eventually, the laws limiting land ownership also went to the wayside.

Though Oglethorpe's vision of social equity and industrious virtue may not have come to fruition, his work in Georgia in some ways could be considered successful.  Savannah, Georgia's initial main settlement, continues to thrive today.  Oglethorpe's innovative town planning involved a series of grids with streets and "non-heirarchical" building lots surrounding public squares, and these grids are still preserved in parts of Savannah.  Oglethorpe's town plan continues to serve as a model that is adapted for contemporary urban developments.

Frederica, one of Oglethorpe's other colonial settlements, could also be considered successful though the town ultimately did not survive.

Frederica was basically built to help defend Georgia from the Spanish who also claimed her land.  The town was part of a fort that was successful in its mission to defend Georgia, and this victory over the Spanish in fact contributed to the town's demise.

Since many of Frederica's inhabitants were soldiers, the town found that it could not sustain its businesses without the soldiers' money when the regiment was disbanded in1749.  The shopkeepers and tradespeople gradually left, and the town was left to decline.

Today, Fort Frederica is a beautiful archaeological site, draped in majestic Spanish moss-laden oaks.  A whisper of the town in its heyday can be felt as you walk its grounds, augmented by the tangible evidence left behind by the fort's moat and the remains of the town's buildings and roads.

To get to Frederica, you have to get past Sage and the cannons (that are pointed at C.Spirit in this picture)

Perfect location on a river bend.

Bitter orange tree.

The foundation of a duplex. 

Oven and fireplace.

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Reading between the lines of that listing:

RARELY AVAILABLE [the original colonists had to build their own homes -- "custom build to your dream specifications!"] FREDERICA HOME in prestigious, secure, gated [fort walls!] community.  Modern, two-story detached home [The homes were built in Georgian style and from the outside look much like today's homes.  Wealthier folk could afford two or even three-storied homes.] has original tabby foundation [tabby = the affordable, local "cement" made of oyster shells, lime and sand]. Recent upgrades include replacement of oak walls with imported brick [bricks from Britain were preferred as local bricks deteriorated much more quickly due to a higher sand content; poorer folk lived in wooden homes or palmetto huts] and addition of baking oven [convection with integrated stove top?].   Housing lot includes 50 country acres, perfect for farming or gardening enthusiast [The 50 acres were located a couple of miles outside of the town, and lot owners were expected to farm this land].  Community is secured by stone walls [a big rampart] with additional protection from an in ground dry moat and dedicated on-site security services staffed by the 42nd Regiment of Foot [carrying muskets and able to fire big cannons!].   Location offers easy access for your commute up or down the Frederica River [the fort was located on a bluff on a river bend, a perfect place to defend from attacking ships coming up- or downriver].  Join this innovative planned community, designed by renowned developer, James Oglethorpe.  Community has all your desired services and amenities including cooperage [a cooper makes wooden barrels for holding liquids; no Tupperware or plastic back then], apothecary [the town's pharmacist] and five taverns [where everyone went to read the paper, drink, play games, hang out and even sleep].  Talented chandler [candle-maker -- one of the richest in town since everyone needed light], shoemaker, and blacksmith also live on site.  Ideal homeowner will bring enthusiasm and skills [You better work hard!].  Pets and smoking allowed, but community has strict no slave policy.  British government to cover closing costs [Colonists received a certain amount of goods and foods].  Creative financing available [Those who could not afford to join the colony, could come over as indentured servants; they would receive their land once their period of service was completed].

What the settlers were given to help them start

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WHERE WE STARTED: Anchored in Walburg Creek by St. Catherine's Island, Mile 620

WHERE WE ARE:  Anchored in Frederica River next to Fort Frederica, St. Simon's Island, Mile 670

THERE TO HERE: 50 miles, a longish day, though the anchor was down at 2:30 pm.  Jamey at the helm with a little help from Phoenix and Nancy.  The shallow depths of the Georgian ICW were stressful.  We ran the Little Mud River today with two feet of falling tide left.  We ended up creeping through the river without problems, but needed all of that tide to not hit bottom.



FORT FREDERICA NATIONAL MONUMENT:  Located on St. Simons Island 12 miles from Brunswick, GA.  Open from 8:30 am to 5 pm.  Adults $3, 15 years and under free.  We were able to use our National Parks Annual Pass.   There is a dinghy dock on the river banks of the monument.  The ladder is a bit eroded at the bottom, but still strong enough on top.  Two hours on either side of low tide exposes soft, muddy flats right by the dock.  We were careful to time our arrival and departure to avoid wading through the mud.

The dinghy dock at high tide. 

The dinghy dock a little before low tide.