Old Spanish Garden

Old Spanish Garden is a Georgia historical marker in Glynn County, dedicated 1954.

At the intersection of Demere Road and Ocean Boulevard on St. Simons.

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Spain maintained missions along this coast for more than a century. Beginning in 1568 Jesuit and, later, Franciscan missionaries labored to Christianize the Indians and cultivated in the mission garden figs, peaches, oranges and other plants introduced from Europe. Due to Indian uprisings, pirate raids and British depredations these missions were removed further south in 1686. A map of St. Simons Island made in 1739 by Capt. John Thomas, engineer in Oglethorpe's regiment, locates an "OLD SPANISH GARDEN" near this site. In this area materials from the Spanish mission period have been found.

Maps this old were drawn largely by eye, so places on them can sit miles from where they really are. The pin is ours and marks the marker's location today.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1700 · Plate 22. Facsimile Cartography 1492-1867. Delisle Map, 1700. Gentil Map, ca. 1700. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1764 · Carte de la Nouvelle Georgie (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1778 · Parte Orientale della Florida, della Giorgia, e Carolina Meridionale. Fogl. XI (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1816 · Georgia. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1852 · Georgia, Florida. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

Carte de la Nouvelle Georgie, 1764, covering the location of Old Spanish Garden, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Carte de la Nouvelle Georgie, 1764, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

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The marker isn't at this spotOur pin may be off. If you know where it stands, tell us.I couldn't find the markerWe record what the source recorded. We have not been to look.The sign reads differentlyThat would be an error, and we can pass it to the program.The historical map looks wrongThe period map behind the pin, not the marker itself.Something else

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This historical marker is part of the Georgia Historical Marker Program and was erected by the Georgia Historical Commission. Marker texts and locations come from the Society's own marker database.

Old Spanish Garden

Historical maps covering this location

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