Editing Camden County, Georgia (section)

==History==

===Colonial period===
The first recorded European to visit what is today Camden County was Captain [[Jean Ribault]] of [[France]] in 1562. Ribault was sent out by French [[Huguenots]] to find a suitable place for a settlement. Ribault named the rivers he saw the Seine and the Some, known today as the St. Marys and Satilla Rivers. Ribault described the area as, "Fairest, fruitfulest and pleasantest of all the world."<ref name=":2">[http://ourgeorgiahistory.com/ogh/Camden_County,_Georgia "] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101126225243/http://ourgeorgiahistory.com/ogh/Camden_County,_Georgia |date=November 26, 2010 }}  [http://ourgeorgiahistory.com/ogh/Camden_County,_Georgia Camden County History"]  Our Georgia History</ref>

In 1565, [[Spain]] became alarmed by the French settlements and sent out a large force to take over and settle the area. During that time, the Spaniards attempted to convert the Native Americans to [[Catholicism]]. At least two missions operated on Cumberland Island, ministering to the [[Timucuan]] people, who had resided on the island for at least 4,000 years.

Competing British and Spanish claims to the territory between their respective colonies of South Carolina and Florida was a source of international tension, and the colony of Georgia was founded in 1733 in part to protect the British interests. The Spanish theoretically lost their claim to the territory in 1742 after the [[Battle of Bloody Marsh]] (on [[St. Simons Island]]). However, settlement south of the [[Altamaha River]] (what is now Glynn and Camden Counties) was discouraged by both the British and Spanish governments. One group of settlers led by Edmund Gray sparked Spanish military action after settling on the Satilla River in the 1750s near present-day Burnt Fort, and were subsequently disbanded by the Royal Governor [[John Reynolds (Royal Navy officer)|John Reynolds]].<ref name=":0">Hamer, Marguerite Bartlett. "Edmund Gray and His Settlement at New Hanover." The Georgia Historical Quarterly, ISSN 0016-8297, 03/1929, Volume 13, Issue 1, pp. 1 - 12</ref>

[[James Oglethorpe|General Oglethorpe]] was at [[Cumberland Island]] when Tomochichi gave the barrier island its name. Later, he erected a hunting lodge on Cumberland named Dungeness, which was the predecessor of the famous Greene and Carnegie Dungeness Mansions. He also founded Fort St. Andrews on the north end of Cumberland Island, as well as a strong battery, Fort Prince Williams, on the south end. Fort Prince Williams commanded the entrance to the St. Marys River but had become a ruin by the Revolutionary War.

In 1763, Spain, under a treaty of peace with [[Great Britain]], ceded Florida to the [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]]. After this, the boundaries of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] were extended from the Altamaha (now the southern boundary of McIntosh County) to the St. Marys River (the current southern boundary of Camden). In 1765, four parishes were laid out between the Altamaha and St. Marys Rivers. These were St. Davids, St. Patricks, St. James, and the parishes of St. Marys and St. Thomas.

===Early American era===
Largely due to security issues arising from proximity to powerful Indian groups and British Florida, Georgia was the last colony to join in the [[American Revolutionary War|War for Independence]] in 1775. In the [[Constitution of Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia Constitution of 1777]] St. Thomas and St. Marys Parishes were formed into Camden County, named for [[Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden|Charles Pratt]], 1st [[Earl Camden]] in England, a supporter of American independence. Originally Camden County was larger and also included parts of present-day [[Ware County, Georgia|Ware]], [[Brantley County, Georgia|Brantley]], and [[Charlton County, Georgia|Charlton]] Counties, which were re-designated in the nineteenth century.

Also under the 1777 state constitution, Glynn County and Camden County had limited and restricted representation in the new patriotic Georgia government due to their extreme "state of alarm" throughout the war.<ref>Revolutionary Records of Georgia. Volume 1. page 285.</ref> Between 1776 and 1778 Camden County saw the construction of numerous forts, three failed American campaigns against the British at St. Augustine, and numerous depredations by raiders of various allegiance. One of the most notorious of these raiders was [[Daniel McGirt]]h.<ref>Martha Condray Searcy. ''The Georgia-Florida Contest in the American Revolution. ''University of Alabama Press, 1985. See also, Wilbur H. Siebert, "Privateering in Florida Waters and Northwards in the American Revolution". ''Florida Historical Quarterly XXII. 1943. 62-73. ''</ref> A significant loyalist faction existed in Camden County, headed by the brothers of [[James Wright (governor)|Royal Governor James Wright]], Charles and German Wright. They built a fort on the St. Marys River in 1775 to protect their lands and chattel during the war after repeated attacks by patriot banditti. Wright's Fort became a rendezvous for a group of loyalists called the "Florida Rangers". Two skirmishes were fought by Loyalist and Continental forces over Wright's Fort, and both times American troops failed to rout the Loyalists from the area. Finally, retreating British soldiers burned it down in 1778. The Americans rebuilt it when they invaded East Florida, and then burned it down to prevent it falling into enemy hands. The archaeological site was rediscovered in 1975.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://shapiro.anthro.uga.edu/Lamar/images/PDFs/publication_62.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=July 22, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612161945/http://shapiro.anthro.uga.edu/Lamar/images/PDFs/publication_62.pdf |archive-date=June 12, 2010 }}</ref>

The primary economic enterprise of the county was rice planting, particularly along the Satilla River. [[Sea Island Cotton|Sea Island cotton]] was grown on Cumberland Island, and short-staple cotton was grown on the mainland along with sugar cane. Various forest products including [[turpentine]] and timber were produced, mainly for consumption in the naval industry and the West Indies.<ref name=":1"/> Camden County also served as a hub of backcountry trade with American settlers and various Indian groups, and as a shipyard and shipping center centered around the town of St. Marys. The land in Camden County was owned by fewer than 300 people throughout the colonial and antebellum eras. Most of the white population worked in trades or as tenant farmers, while nearly all black residents were slaves. Until the 1840s (and increasingly strict black codes), Camden County had a small population of free black workers, mainly involved in day labor or maritime industry.

Camden County was the site of many trading posts with the Native Americans, who by the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries consisted mainly of people of the [[Creek Nation]]. From America's earliest years and even after Indian Removal in the 1830s, the county was a site of significant conflict between settlers and Indians, leading to a small series of local Indian wars, and displacement of both Indian and local American refugees. An important step towards establishing boundaries in the Early Federal period came with the [[Treaty of Colerain]] which was signed on June 29, 1796, on the St. Marys between United States agents and the Creeks.

Many men from Camden County volunteered to fight under [[John Houstoun McIntosh]], a wealthy landowner in the region, during the [[Patriot War (Florida)|Patriot War in Florida]] in 1811. These men would go on to help capture the town of [[Fernandina Beach, Florida|Fernandina, Florida]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Patrick |first1=Rembert |title=Florida Fiasco: Rampant Rebels on the Georgia-Florida Border 1810-1815 |date=1954 |publisher=University of Georgia Press |location=Athens, GA |page=57}}</ref>

On January 15, 1815, British troops led by [[Sir George Cockburn, 10th Baronet|Sir George Cockburn]] landed on Cumberland Island. Their goal was to attack the fort at [[Battle of Point Peter|Point Peter]]. They quickly overwhelmed the small American forced and took Ft. Point Peter easily. After the skirmish, British soldiers occupied the county through February. They raided the town of St. Marys, as well as many plantations and smaller settlements. Although New Orleans was the last major battle of the war, the skirmish at Point Peter happened even later, almost a month after the [[Treaty of Ghent]] had been signed. The British occupation of Camden County led to the liberation of an estimated 1,485 slaves from Georgia and Florida.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.forgotteninvasion.com/index.html |title=Forgotten Invasion |access-date=July 21, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121210030533/http://www.forgotteninvasion.com/index.html |archive-date=December 10, 2012 }}</ref>

Camden County was on an international border until the [[Adams–Onís Treaty]] of 1819 between the United States and [[Spain]], making the Florida provinces American territory.

===Civil War and Reconstruction===
At the beginning of the Civil War, the population was 5,482 of which 1,721 were white. During the war, many of the county's civilians moved farther inland, particularly to Centerville and Trader's Hill on the St. Marys River in Charlton County. The inhabitant's fears were realized when the town of St. Marys was attacked by United States Navy.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}} At least one federal party to "carry off" slaves was met by armed resistance on White Oak Creek off the Satilla River.<ref>James Vocelle. ''History of Camden County''. 97.</ref>

Camden County organized four volunteer companies: the Camden Chasseurs, St. Marys Volunteers Guard, Camden Rifles, and Camden County Guards.<ref>The Southern Recorder. April 31, 1861. Milledgeville Historic Newspapers Archive: Georgia Historic Newspapers http://milledgeville.galileo.usg.edu/milledgeville/view?docId=news/srw1861/srw1861-0065.xml&query=Camden&brand=milledgeville-brand {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141016141901/http://milledgeville.galileo.usg.edu/milledgeville/view?docId=news/srw1861/srw1861-0065.xml&query=Camden&brand=milledgeville-brand |date=October 16, 2014 }}</ref>

Camden County land fell under [[Special Field Order No. 15|Sherman's Special Field Order No. 15.]] which dictated the distribution of parcels of land to freedmen. However, by 1868, Camden County's freedmen found themselves dispossessed of land they had lived and worked on since emancipation or earlier. Confiscated lands were returned to former landowners.<ref name=":4" /> During the first years of [[Reconstruction Era|Reconstruction]], Republican candidates and many local blacks were able to gain political victories. The first Democratic victory in the county after the war went to Ray Tompkins. This signaled a return to a white political majority and the end of the Reconstruction Era concurrent with the statewide Democratic victory in 1870.<ref name=":5">Vocelle, James. History of Camden County Georgia.</ref>

===Since the 1830s===
Earlier plans for railways in the area dated back to the 1830s, but construction was never begun. In 1893, [[Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad]] built a Savannah-Jacksonville line through Camden County. In 1923 the county seat of Camden County was moved from St. Marys to Woodbine, a reflection of the shift from the water transportation to railways. In 1927, [[U.S. Route 17 in Georgia|U.S. Route 17]] was constructed through Woodbine and Kingsland.<ref name=":1">Reddick, Margurite. ''Camden's Challenge''. WH Wolfe Associates, Alpharetta, Georgia, 1994.</ref>

From 1917 to 1937, a [[pogy]] plant producing oil for [[Procter & Gamble]] and fertilizer for the Southern Fertilizer and Chemical Company was one of the major economic activities of the area. The layoffs from the pogy plant found relief when the [[Gilman Paper Company]] came to the county in 1939. The company was sold to Durango Paper Co. in 1999, and went out of business in 2002, resulting in 900 workers losing their jobs.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://onlineathens.com/stories/091402/bus_20020914026.shtml|title=Durango paper mill closing, 900 workers lose jobs {{!}} Online Athens|date=April 6, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160406122011/http://onlineathens.com/stories/091402/bus_20020914026.shtml|archive-date=April 6, 2016|access-date=April 2, 2018}}</ref>

In 1965, [[Thiokol|Thiokol Chemical]] launched a {{convert|13|ft|adj=on}}-diameter, {{convert|3000000|lbf|kN|adj=on}}-thrust rocket from their chemical plant in the eastern part of the county.<ref name=t&g201409/>
On February 3, 1971, a [[Thiokol-Woodbine Explosion|fire and explosion]] occurred at the plant, located 12 miles southeast of Woodbine. The industrial accident killed 29 workers and seriously injured 50 others.<ref name=":2" />

During World War II, the Georgia State Guard and local Home Guard held bases on Cumberland Island.<ref name=":1"/> The island and surrounding waters were also patrolled by the [[United States Coast Guard]].<ref name=":4">Bullard. Cumberland Island: A History. University of Georgia Press 2001.</ref> The U.S. Army began to acquire land south of [[Crooked River (Georgia)|Crooked River]] in 1954 to build a military ocean terminal to ship ammunition in case of a national emergency.
In November 1976, the area of Kings Bay was selected for a submarine base. Soon afterward, the first Navy personnel arrived in the Kings Bay area and started preparations for the orderly transfer of property from the Army to the Navy. [[Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay]] not only occupies the former Army terminal land, but several thousand additional acres. Camden County's population grew enormously after the military took an interest in the area, and during the 1980s, was the fourth fastest growing county in the United States.<ref name=":1"/>

[[Cumberland Island National Seashore]] was established in 1970 to protect and preserve the natural and historic resources of the island. [[Crooked River State Park]] was established in 1985.

In 2009, the Camden County Sheriff's Office was ordered by the [[United States Department of Justice|Justice Department]] to repay $662,000 of improperly spent [[Asset forfeiture|funds seized]] from alleged criminals before it would be allowed to participate in the Justice Department's [[equitable sharing]] program. Items that were determined to have been purchased by the Camden County Sheriff's Department improperly included a [[Dodge Viper]] purchased for approximately $90,000 which the Sheriff's Office intended to use in [[Drug Abuse Resistance Education|anti-drug programs]].<ref>{{Cite news|title=Sheriff Under Scrutiny over Drug Money Spending|language=en|work=NPR.org|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91638378|access-date=February 22, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Dickson|first=Terry|title=Camden County works way back into federal seized assets program|url=https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/crime/2011/12/07/camden-county-works-way-back-federal-seized-assets-program/15881806007/|access-date=February 22, 2022|website=The Florida Times-Union|language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2012, the Camden County Joint Development Authority began considering developing a [[spaceport]] for both [[HTHL|horizontal]] and [[VTVL|vertical]] spacecraft operations. Options included moving the [[St. Marys, Georgia|St. Marys']] airport to the [[coastal|Atlantic coastal]] site<ref name=tribune20121115>
{{cite news |last=Rush |first=Johna Strickland |title=Spaceport could land in Camden |url=http://www.tribune-georgian.com/articles/2012/11/16/news/top_stories/1topstory11.16.txt |access-date=November 20, 2012 |newspaper=Tribune & Georgian |date=November 15, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130204234425/http://www.tribune-georgian.com/articles/2012/11/16/news/top_stories/1topstory11.16.txt |archive-date=February 4, 2013 }}</ref>
which had previously been used for a rocket launch in 1965.<ref name=t&g201409/>
In 2013, the authority contracted for an [[Environmental Impact Statement]] to be completed on {{convert|200|acre}} of authority-owned land, part of a larger {{convert|4200|acre}} site, in order to build a commercial launch site.<ref name=tbh20140106>{{cite news |last=Perez-Trevino |first=Emma |title=Brownsville, SpaceX await FAA ruling |url=http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/local/article_ed5b6e4e-75b8-11e3-86f4-0019bb30f31a.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140110104554/http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/local/article_ed5b6e4e-75b8-11e3-86f4-0019bb30f31a.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 10, 2014 |access-date=January 10, 2014 |newspaper=Brownsville Herald |date=January 6, 2014 }}</ref>
{{as of|2014|09}}, the county was investigating options to purchase {{convert|11000|acre}} of land from landowners who own the land formerly occupied by Thiokol Chemical and [[Bayer CropScience]] at [[Harrietts Bluff]]. If an agreement is reached with landowners, then another 18-month-long environmental impact process could begin on the larger parcel of land. Georgia state legislators would likely offer tax incentives for commercial development in the project. If development were to proceed, the earliest launch possible would have been in 2018, according to the 2014 projections.<ref name=t&g201409>
{{cite news |last1=Heglund |first1=Emily |title=Camden spaceport could be 'turning point' for Ga. |url=http://www.tribune-georgian.com/view/full_story_free/25909619/article-Camden-spaceport-could-be--turning-point--for-Ga-?instance=main_image_top |access-date=January 31, 2015 |work=Tribune & Georgian |date=September 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150122092524/http://www.tribune-georgian.com/view/full_story_free/25909619/article-Camden-spaceport-could-be--turning-point--for-Ga-?instance=main_image_top |archive-date=January 22, 2015 }}</ref>{{update after|2018|1|15}}

In June 2015, the Camden board decided to formally advance the [[Spaceport Camden]] project by initiating an [[FAA]] [[Environmental Impact Assessment]] of the 4000+ acre facility.<ref name=sc20150603>
{{cite web |title=Camden County Board of Commissioners Approves Option Agreement for Real Estate |url=http://www.spaceportcamden.us/news.php |website=Spaceport Camden |access-date=June 3, 2015 |quote=''On June 3, 2015, The Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved an option agreement to purchase 4,011 acres, more or less. The subject property was the former location where the world's most powerful rocket motor was test fired in the 1960s. The county will be commencing soon the next milestone of the project whereby the Federal Aviation Administration prepares an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to address the potential environmental impacts of constructing and operating a commercial launch site in Camden County, Georgia.  "This exciting announcement advances the project forward and aligns with the county's vision of developing a world-class spaceport," stated Steve Howard, County Administrator.''}}</ref>{{update after|2018|1|15}}