// ossabaw island · history //
Four Thousand Years
on One Island
human presence
island to the Crown
founded
as Heritage Preserve
// earliest record //
Evidence of human presence extends at least four thousand years, based on pottery shards unearthed from the island's numerous oyster shell middens. The island was inhabited by the Guale Indians at the time of Spanish exploration of the Georgia coast in the early 16th century. Throughout the Spanish mission period the Guale alternately supplied and fought with the Spanish colonists.
When English occupation replaced the Spanish in the 1730s, the Guale had moved inland, possibly in response to disease and coastal conflict. The earliest English treaties reserved the island as hunting and fishing grounds for the Creek Indians.
// colonial and plantation period //
In 1758 a group of Creek leaders conveyed the island to King George II of Great Britain. In 1760 Henri Bourquin claimed ownership. He sold it to his son-in-law, John Morell, who used enslaved people to farm and timber the island. At his death the island was divided into four plantations — Morell's will includes 155 enslaved people, whom his three living sons inherited.
After the Civil War the island was farmed on a small scale by several owners. In 1907 Savannah native Henry D. Weed purchased over 9,000 acres. By 1916 Weed was the island's sole owner. After 1916 it was used as a hunting retreat by a group of wealthy businessmen until purchased in 1924 by Dr. Henry Norton Torrey and his wife Nell Ford Torrey of Detroit, Michigan.
// the ossabaw island project //
In 1961 The Ossabaw Foundation, created by Eleanor Torrey West and Clifford B. West, launched the Ossabaw Island Project as an artistic and scholarly retreat. Over the years the island's solitude and natural beauty served as the setting for notable visitors:
Aaron Copland — Composer
Samuel Barber — Composer
Ralph Ellison — Writer
Annie Dillard — Writer
Olive Ann Burns — Writer (Cold Sassy Tree)
Margaret Atwood — Writer
Harry Bertoia — Sculptor
Eugene Odum — Ecologist, founder of ecosystem ecology
// the heritage preserve //
In 1978, no longer able to subsidize the artistic, educational, and scientific activity on the island, and refusing lucrative offers of resort development, Mrs. West and her family chose to sell the island to the State of Georgia as a Heritage Preserve.
The island is to be used for "natural, scientific and cultural study, research and education, and environmentally sound preservation, conservation and management of the Island's ecosystem." The Georgia Department of Natural Resources manages access. The Ossabaw Island Foundation, a public charity established in 1994, coordinates educational and cultural programs.
The general public must apply to visit. Groups engaged in study, research, and education are welcome. The island's architecture includes Mission/Spanish Revival, Stick/Eastlake, and saddlebag styles. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.