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==History== The St. Marys river area was first explored by Spanish expeditions in the mid 16th century as part of the settlement of [[Spanish Florida]], with nearby [[St. Augustine, Florida|St. Augustine]] as the established capital. The original Spanish settlement was founded in 1566, making this the second-oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement in what became the contiguous United States. Settlement for colonial Georgians became legal after the [[Treaty of Paris (1763)|Treaty of Paris]] in 1763, when Britain exchanged some territory with Spain after defeating France in the Seven Years' War. Following independence in the American Revolutionary War, local inhabitants of Camden County gathered on Cumberland Island and signed a charter for "a town on the St. Marys" on November 20, 1787. There were twenty charter members, who each received four town lots and one marsh lot (outside the boundary of the town on the east side in the marshes); each lot was {{convert|4|acre}} square, with the total town area being {{convert|2041|acre}}. These twenty city founders are named on an historical marker in downtown St. Marys: Isaac Wheeler, William Norris, Nathaniel Ashley, William Ashley, Lodowick Ashley, James Seagrove, James Finley, John Fleming, Robert Seagrove, Henry Osborne, Thomas Norris, Jacob Weed, John Alexander, Langley Bryant, Jonathan Bartlett, Stephen Conyers, William Ready, Prentis Gallup, Simeon Dillingham and Richard Cole. The original boundaries of the town correspond to the modern waterfront, Bartlett Street, North Street, and a block east of Norris Street. There were two public town squares.<ref>John H. Christian. ''The Founders of St. Marys. ''1990.</ref> However, in the original deed the town was unnamed, and for several years afterwards in public documents it was referred to as either St. Marys or St. Patrick's, and colloquially as simply "the New Town".<ref>Camden County Deed Book A. Original in Clerk of Courts office, Woodbine GA.</ref> Accounts differ regarding the origin of the name—some say it is named after the St. Marys River, while others say it comes from a seventeenth-century Spanish mission, Santa Maria, on nearby Amelia Island, Florida.<ref name="New Georgia Encyclopedia" /> St. Marys was recognized by an act of the Georgia legislature on December 5, 1792, with the result of incorporation in November 1802. Oak Grove Cemetery is included in the [[St. Marys Historic District (Georgia)|St. Marys Historic District]] and was laid outside the western border of St. Marys during its founding in 1787. On June 29, 1796, the [[Treaty of Colerain]] was signed just up the river from St Marys between the United States and the [[Creek Nation]], the indigenous inhabitants of this territory. St. Marys town founder Langley Bryant served as the official interpreter between the Creek Indians and the United States. St. Marys was made a United States [[port of entry]] by act of the U.S. Congress March 2, 1799. The first Collector was [[James Seagrove]]. During the [[History of the United States (1789–1849)|antebellum period]], Archibald Clark served as the U.S. Customs Collector from 1807 until his death in 1848. After the [[Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves]] took effect in 1808, St. Marys became, along with Spanish [[Amelia Island]], a center for smuggling, especially during the period between 1812 and 1819 when various rebel groups held Amelia Island.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m7ERAAAAYAAJ&q=smuggle&pg=PA304 |title=Niles' Weekly Register |year=1818 |access-date=August 11, 2015}}</ref> During the [[War of 1812]], the [[Battle of Fort Peter]] occurred near the town, at the fort on Point Peter along the [[St. Marys River (Florida–Georgia)|St. Marys River]]. The British captured the fort and the town and occupied it for about a month. The [[United States Navy]] bombarded the town's shoreside buildings during the [[American Civil War]]. St. Marys served as Camden County's seat of government from 1869 until 1923.<ref name="New Georgia Encyclopedia">{{cite web|url=http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2219 |title=St. Marys | New Georgia Encyclopedia |publisher=Georgiaencyclopedia.org |access-date=August 11, 2015}}</ref>
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