Fort Frederica no longer exists. Despite this unpleasant fact, there is still a Fort Frederica National Park on St. Simon's Island in Georgia! Why is there a park for a nonexistant fort? Because Fort Frederica was important. All starforts are of course important, but few as important as Fort Frederica, at least in the context of British colony of Georgia in North America.

As one of James Oglethorpe's first colonies in Georgia, Fort Frederica secured British land claims from the wicked Spanish. Oglethorpe & co. besieged the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, Florida in 1740, and, in a neighborly fashion, Spain returned the favor in 1742.

In July of that year, 2000 Spaniards landed on St. Simon's Island will ill intent, but were vanquished before they even made it to Fort Frederica, by the British and their Native American allies. The British Crown Colony of Georgia was saved, and remained British until the American Revolutionary War rudely interrupted everything.

Fort Frederica continued as a fortified colony for a few years after its run-in with the Spanish, but the regiment that was stationed to guard it was disbanded in 1749, and a "mysterious fire" swept through the town in 1758, from which it never recovered.

The Spanish threat to Georgia ceased completely when Great Britain won control of Florida as part of the Treaty of Paris that ended the Seven Years' War. Spain got it back at the end of the American Revolutionary War, and finally, Florida was ceded to the United States in 1819.

Neglect of what was left of Fort Frederica played the role that one might expect, and as a result, there's not much Fort Frederica left at Fort Frederica National Park...not that this prevents there from being a Fort Frederica National Park.

The park tries to make up for the lack of fort with lots of helpful signing, much of which was suffering as much as I was from the punishing Georgia sun...plus, biting flies! Still, this is a beautiful location, some of the slightly-reproduced outer town walls scratch the starfort itch, and there's a nice, if wee, museum. And, being a National Park, admission is free.

Each of the pix on this page are but thumbnails, the clickage of which will bring you to their full-sized counterpart, along with further brilliant observations regarding my visit to Fort Frederica.

...but if you're the kind of person who simply can't wait to get to pictures of signs, and have absolutely no interest in seeing what those signs describe, then you won't need to proceed any further down this page than the links below...for these are all the signs with which I came in contact at Fort Frederica.
The Barracks Broad Street Fort Frederica Guns on the River Hut Sweet Hut Military Road		Oglethorpe Public Bakery Success Uncovered Blacksmith Shop The Flesh Market The Fort		Historical Artifacts Indian Interpreter Old Burial Ground Northeast Town Bastion Preserving Our Past for the Future Strong Walls From Refuse The World is My Parish