Two other coastal-area forts lie just across the Georgia-Florida border. Fort Clinch in Fernandina Beach, just a few miles south of the Georgia-Florida border, is not well known outside of Florida, but it was an important installation when it was first built. The Castillo de San Marco in St. Augustine, a few miles south of Jacksonville, pre-dates the State of Georgia, and is a major tourist attraction.

Fernandina Beach is a picturesque little town, a few miles north of Amelia Island, on Florida’s northeast coast. It is also home to what is now Fort Clinch State Park. Fernandina Beach is the only incorporated town within Nassau County, and had a population of just over 13,000 as of the 2020 census. My wife and I first discovered it when we went to a wedding on the beach at Amelia Island, a dozen or so years ago. We have been back for weekend visits several times since then.

The original town of Fernandina was named after the Spanish King Ferdinand VII, and was built about a mile west of what is now Fernandina Beach, in 1811. It was the last platted Spanish town in Florida.

The Spanish, French and English all vied for control over the area, but the Spanish were predominant until the English finally drove them out. It is also the only municipality in the United States that has flown eight different national flags.

Construction of Fort Clinch began in 1847, on the southern bank of the St. Marys River, and eventually consisted of five million bricks – all imported on ships – and was designed to protect the St. Marys River and Cumberland Sound.

Two days before Florida seceded from the Union, in January 1861, Confederate sympathizers took control of the fort, which had earlier been staffed by Federal workers who had been enlarging the structure, and then abandoned it prior to the declaration of secession.

But because the Confederates lacked the resources to fortify Fort Clinch, General Robert E. Lee, who was commanding coastal defenses in the Deep South, ordered cannons and troops withdrawn in early 1862.The Union then used the fort as a base for its operations in the area for the remainder of the war, but it never saw any actual battles, and was later abandoned to the weeds, before being reclaimed in the 1930’s and restored to its Civil War era status.

As Wikipedia notes, “During the Great Depression, workers of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) began restoration of the fort during the 1930s. It was restored to the Civil War era. In 1935, the State of Florida bought 256 acres (1.0 km2) that included the then-abandoned fort and the surrounding area. Fort Clinch State Park, including the fort, opened to the public in 1938.

The fort was closed to the public during World War II and used as a communications and security post. It was re-opened to public visits after the war ended.

The fort was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. It is interpreted largely in terms of its use as a base of Union operations during the American Civil War. State Park personnel reenact military life at the fort, which is open from 8:00am until sundown, year-round.”

Today, the modern Old Historic Fernandina Beach town is home to a large Victorian residential district, built during an earlier commercial heyday, shops, art galleries and restaurants, and even a bar that managed to remain open during Prohibition by selling gasoline and ice cream! And of course the nearby beaches.

It is a very walkable area, and just a short ride down I-95 from Savannah. It’s an interesting place to visit over a weekend or just for a day-trip!

Rafe Semmes is a local columnist.