Cumberland Island is uninhabited now, but it used to be a playground for the rich and famous (like nearby Jekyll Island). Thomas Carnegie, the brother of Andrew Carnegie, owned 90% of the island at one point and built a 35,000-square-foot, 59-room mansion there in the 1880s. The property was named Dungeness after a hunting lodge that was built on the island in 1736 by James Oglethorpe, the founder of the original Georgia colony (and, fun fact, the namesake of my alma mater).
The Carnegies abandoned Dungeness by 1925, and in 1959 the mansion was burned, possibly on purpose. I read one article that said the fire could be seen all the way from St. Mary's for three whole days.
Today the National Park Service owns the ruins, and the most popular day hike through the island passes right through them.
I don't have much natural inclination for this type of photo, and I knew I had an architecture assignment coming up for my class, so I intended to be more thorough and methodical about these shots, but there were two big distractions.
First, we found more horses, including the two foals you saw here.
And second, we realized there was an osprey nest on the top of one of the chimneys.
And the nest had babies! The chimney was pretty high up there, so the quality on these isn't great, but how cute is that little one popping his head up out of the back of the nest?
I can't say I'm disappointed about either of these distractions. :) My heart is always with nature.
Beautiful set !
Thank you, Bill! Such a beautiful place to visit.