Experience Tybee Island - A Journey to Remember

Tybee’s strategic location at the mouth of the Savannah River led to repeated changes in colonial control as European powers vied for dominance. By the early 18th century, Spanish power had weakened, and both the French and British advanced settlement off the coast, eventually forcing Spain out amid shifting alliances and treaties.

The English Georgia colony was chartered in 1732, and in 1733, General James Oglethorpe established Savannah and the surrounding region. Recognizing Tybee's importance in controlling maritime access, Oglethorpe quickly moved to assert British control over the island.

In 1733, Oglethorpe led the founding of the Georgia colony, naming Tybee as a critical guardianship point for the newly established Savannah. By 1736, he ordered the construction of Georgia’s first lighthouse on Tybee to mark the entrance to the Savannah River and ensure safe passage for settlers and supplies. This early lighthouse—part of a modest military outpost—helped assert British control and control navigation.

The original structure—a 90-foot wooden tower—was built on the north end of the island. Over time, repeated storms and wartime destruction necessitated several reconstructions; nevertheless, the Tybee Island Light Station became (and remains) one of the most recognized and longest-serving American lighthouses.

Tybee has a unique claim to religious history as the site of John Wesley’s first prayer on American soil. Wesley, the “Father of Methodism,” arrived as a missionary to the Georgia colony in 1736. Landing at Peeper (Cockspur) Island near Tybee, he delivered his inaugural sermon to fellow voyagers and local settlers, an event commemorated today by a historical marker..

Wesley’s presence illustrates the colony’s role not just as a military outpost but as a social and spiritual frontier in the British Atlantic world. Although he remained less than two years in Georgia, his experience shaped the direction of Methodism, which later became a major denomination in American religious life.

Tybee’s role in the American Revolution reflects the complexities of war in the southern colonies. The 1779 “Siege of Savannah,” one of the bloodiest battles of the war, saw Tybee serving as a staging ground for combined French and American forces under Admiral D’Estaing attempting to retake Savannah from the British.

Additionally, Tybee Island was the site of a dramatic episode involving enslaved people, Loyalists, and Patriots. On March 25, 1776, Archibald Bulloch led a force of Georgia militiamen and Creek soldiers to raid British-controlled Tybee. Their objective was to capture runaway slaves who had sought protection with the British—a story that highlights the intertwined histories of slavery, freedom, and revolution in coastal Georgia.

The Revolutionary era also witnessed the construction and military use of the island as a forward position for communication, resupply, and (quite literally) the tides of war.

During the War of 1812, Tybee’s importance as a lookout and signaling post saw the further utilization of the lighthouse. Though no full-scale attack materialized, the island’s fortifications were strengthened when a Martello Tower—short, round British-designed defensive towers—was built to better guard the river entrance and protect Savannah.

Martello Towers were considered nearly impregnable to ships’ cannon at the time. The presence of such a structure reinforced Tybee’s role as a sentinel post during times of international conflict and marked the island’s integration in a global network of British coastal defenses.

On the western side of Tybee Island, at what is now called Lazaretto Creek, stood a facility whose history echoes with both maritime safety and human tragedy. Beginning in the 1760s, and especially after the legalization of slavery in Georgia in 1750, Tybee Island’s Lazaretto (from the Italian for “quarantine house”) was established for inspection and quarantine of ships arriving from West Africa and other distant ports.

This quarantine station played a crucial role in attempting to stem epidemic diseases inadvertently carried by crew and enslaved Africans on Atlantic ships. Passengers suspected of carrying diseases such as smallpox and yellow fever were forced to remain at the Lazaretto before being cleared for entry. Those who perished were often buried in unmarked graves on the island’s western tip, a sobering reminder of the costs of the colonial trans-Atlantic slave trade.

After the war, Tybee transitioned from fortress to fashionable seaside retreat. The cool breezes and salt air, long prized by Native Americans and colonists alike, were now promoted as cures for asthma, allergies, and “nervous exhaustion” among urbanites. Savannah’s citizens eagerly sought escape from the city’s summer heat, and Tybee obliged.

Steamships were soon ferrying patients, day-trippers, and vacationers from Savannah’s downtown wharves to the island’s piers. By the 1890s, Tybee boasted more than 400 beach cottages and facilities for “summer residents,” transforming the local landscape into the region’s leading resort.

The arrival of the Central of Georgia Railroad in 1887 marked the start of Tybee’s “Golden Age” of tourism. The 17.7-mile “Tybee Branch” offered inexpensive, frequent transport, allowing up to a quarter-million people a year to leave the city behind for the sea.

In 1891, the railroad built the famed Tybrisa Pavilion—an iconic wooden boardwalk-and-bandstand complex that surged with music and energy each summer, hosting big bands, roller skating, and weddings. Tybrisa was the heart of Tybee’s entertainment district for over half a century, symbolizing the new era of accessible leisure for all walks of life.

From the late 19th century, Tybee’s north end took on a new strategic role with the construction of Fort Screven, begun in 1897 amid the modernization of U.S. coastal defenses during the Spanish-American War scare. Six reinforced concrete gun batteries, minefields, and dozens of support structures were erected, with the fort garrison manning coastal artillery during both World Wars and the Spanish-American conflict.

The fort was not just about guns—the “Officer’s Row” of elegant quarters, barracks, bakery, and movie theater gave the district a distinct character. Fort Screven’s batteries—including Battery Garland—stood ready to repel any seaborne attack from 1897 until its decommission in 1947.

After Fort Screven’s closure, its Battery Garland was reborn in 1961 as the Tybee Island Museum, preserving over 400 years of island history in the very rooms that once held 600-pound artillery shells. Today, visitors can walk through the compact, labyrinthine halls, exploring artifacts and exhibits that reveal the island’s rich heritage.