Franklin County, Florida
The story of St. George Island
Everything below is a single verifiable claim with a citation attached. Where the record is a local legend rather than a document, it says so.
- 1833First light
- 1851Destroyed by hurricane
- 1973State buys 1,800 acres
- 2023Rated best beach in America
founding
How it started
- 1960
The island was reachable only by ferry until 1960; the four-mile St. George Island Bridge to Eastpoint was completed in the mid-1960s.
etymology
How it got its name
- 1833
The island takes the name of the cape at its western end, Cape St. George, where the light was first built in 1833.
industry
What it lived on
-
Apalachicola Bay seafood - oysters above all, alongside scallops, grouper, flounder, redfish, snapper, trout and mullet.
claim to fame
What it is known for
- 2023
Dr. Beach rated the beach at Dr. Julian G. Bruce St. George Island State Park number one in the United States in 2023; Forbes had put it third in 2013.
landmark
What still stands
- 1833
The Cape St. George Light, built in 1833, rebuilt two miles away in 1847-48, rebuilt again after an 1851 hurricane, decommissioned in 1994 and reconstructed after its foundation collapsed in 2005.
- 1973
Dr. Julian G. Bruce St. George Island State Park, on the eastern end, from an 1,800-acre state purchase in 1973.