Brunswick & the Golden Isles.(Georgia)

Barrier islands are found along nearly the entire Eastern Seaboard of the United States. Perhaps you will find it surprising that these are geologically younger than, and not merely pieces of, the mainland. Some came into existence around 30,000 years ago and others emerged within the last 3,000 years. They are continually reshaped by the powerful forces of nature in the form of winds, ocean currents, waves, storms and tides. But it is the tides that have the greatest impact on their evolution. The eastern coastline of Georgia is the end of a massive ocean funnel and, as a consequence, tides here rise higher (six to eight feet) and faster than anyplace else on the Eastern Seaboard.

There are 12 barrier islands along the Georgia coastline. A cluster of four of them, listed north to south as Little St. Simons Island, St. Simons Island, Sea Island and Jekyll Island, and an interesting mainland town, Brunswick, are known, collectively, as Brunswick and The Golden Isles of Georgia.

It is of great interest to note that the flags of five nations have flown over Brunswick & The Golden Isles. The first, the Spanish flag, was hoisted around 1540 when Hernando de Soto explored the area. This was supplanted, albeit briefly between 1562 and 1564, with the arrival and then departure of French Huguenots; it flew until the Union Jack was raised by British General James Edward Oglethorpe in 1736. From 1776 to 1861 the American flag, with its 13 stars symbolizing the 13 original colonies, flew here. In 1861, Georgia seceded from the Union and, from that date until 1865, the Stars and Bars of the Confederate States of America was raised. At the end of the Civil

War the American flag flew again, this time with 36 stars. Beyond this shared experience, each of the above-named places is endowed with its own history and characteristics.

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