Contact Info
Morale, Welfare & Recreation
Robert P. Spinnenweber
950 USS James Madison Road
Kings Bay, GA 31547-2606
Phone: (912)573-2538
Fax: (912)573-2363
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About Us
The Kings Bay region is a pleasant place to live, as shown by the fact people have populated the area for thousands of years. Archeological research conducted over the past three decades has revealed a pre-Columbian Indian presence throughout the area.
Early in the 19th century, much of what is now a bustling modern submarine base was the site of several plantations, including Cherry Point, Harmony Hall, New Canaan, Marianna, and Kings Bay. Along the bay, Thomas King developed his Kings Bay plantation. Buying the land in the 1790s, King built a small-to-medium sized plantation. Investigations by University of Florida archaeologists revealed a broad spectrum of previously unknown information about the lifestyle of the plantation owner of the day.
Elsewhere on what is now base property, John Houston McIntosh built a considerably larger plantation known as New Canaan, where he grew cotton and sugar cane. Just west of the Stimson Gate, across Georgia Highway Spur 40, rests the two-story tabby ruin of McIntosh’s sugar mill. Point Peter was the site of the last major military engagement of the War of 1812 in January 1815, when the British landed in force on Cumberland Island and staged a two-pronged attack against the fort.
The Americans retreated and made a last stand against the invaders along what is now Kamehameha Avenue on lower base. A peace treaty ending the War of 1812 was signed in Belgium in December 1814, but the soldiers, far removed from Europe, knew nothing of the treaty. The British then destroyed the fort, barracks, and magazine. After occupying and looting Point Peter, Cumberland Island and St. Marys, the British left in early March 1815. An exhibit about the fort and battle is on display at the Cumberland Island National Seashore Museum in downtown St. Marys.
