Fort King George State Historic Site will have its annual Christmas dinner with the garrison from 7-8:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 11.
The public is invited to join the garrison in the soldiers’ barracks for an evening meal consisting of turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, turnip greens, corn pudding and bread pudding. The fort buildings will be festively decorated for the holiday and the evening’s entertainment will include caroling and the firing of the Christmas guns.
The cost is $30 per person and all proceeds benefit the nonprofit Garrison of Fort King George.
The fort is at 302 McIntosh Road SE in Darien.
RSVPs are due by Dec. 8. Call 912-437-4770 or go to www.Gastateparks.org/fortkinggeorge.
Fort King George is the oldest English fort on Georgia’s coast. From 1721 until 1736, the fort was the southern outpost of the British Empire in North America. A cypress blockhouse, barracks and earthen fort were built in 1721 by scoutmen led by Col. John “Tuscarora Jack” Barnwell. For the next seven years, His Majesty’s Independent Company garrisoned the fort. They endured hardships from disease, threats of Spanish and Indian attacks, and the harsh, unfamiliar coastal environment. After the fort was abandoned, Gen. James Oglethorpe brought Scottish Highlanders to the site in 1736. The settlement, called Darien, eventually became a foremost export center of lumber until 1925.
Using old records and drawings, this 18th century frontier fortification on the Altamaha River was reconstructed for public tours. Structures include a blockhouse, officers’ quarters, barracks, a guardhouse, moat and palisades.