I headed up US 17 from Kingsland, GA toward Savannah. Between Kingsland and Brunswick, GA you could tell that the highway was, at one time, a very busy corridor. The evidence was all around the blacktop – collapsed/abandoned/re-used filling stations and motel and fast food buildings. That was true until you got to Brunswick (25 or so miles); then the mobile homes and abandoned buildings decreased until you got to Darien, GA.

If you are planning a trip, you probably would not choose Darien as your destination. I had because it was relatively close and it had a fort I wanted to see. Also, as I was lightly researching the trip, it was the 2^nd oldest planned city in Georgia (1736) and the fort was older than that (started in 1721).

It turned out to be a very pleasant and educational surprise. The Darien Visitors Center is easily found and quite nice with Southern Hospitality in abundance. The city itself seems to be prosperous and clean (but not large at all). Finally, Fort King George is a real beauty.

For those of us who have grown up on military history since the Civil War, forts are huge, concrete and brick structures with massive earthworks and cannon. Fort King George is a substantial variation on that theme. Made of cypress with wooden ramparts overlooking a moat and a wooden blockhouse three stories tall, it is impressive in its own right.

Even more impressive than the structure itself is the fact that for years it was the southernmost outpost of British control in the Americas. With France moving from the Mississippi River eastward and the Spanish moving from St. Augustine northward, Fort King George with its small garrison maintained British control of southern Georgia literally without a major fight. According to a marker in the cemetery, 140 British Soldiers died at the fort from illness, accident, malnutrition, and climate between 1722 and 1726 when the fort was occupied only by lookouts.

In addition to the fort, just south of Darien is the Butler Wildlife Observation area. This was originally part of a rice plantation.

[Photos from this excursion]

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