Fort George Island by the Numbers: A 3600 B.C. Shell Ring, a 1928 Club and Mount Cornelia

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Fort George Island holds a shell ring dating to about 3600 B.C., a 1928 clubhouse and an ancient dune called Mount Cornelia. The island near the mouth of the St. Johns River also contains the remains of centuries of human activity, from a Spanish mission and British fort to a 19th-century hotel and former golf course. Visitors can explore much of that history for free through Fort George Island Cultural State Park and its restored Ribault Club visitor center.

The island covers about 500 acres, stretches approximately 5 miles and sits in far northeast Duval County. Florida State Parks identifies it as the southernmost Sea Island in a barrier chain extending from North Carolina to Florida. Its recorded history spans Indigenous settlements, European colonization, resort development and public conservation.

Fort George Island Through the Centuries: 6 Key Dates

1. Around 3600 B.C.: The Rollins Ring Takes Shape

Florida State Parks says the Rollins Ring, one of the largest shell rings, was built on what is now park land around 3600 B.C., "at the same time as the Egyptians were building the pyramids." That places its construction roughly 5,625 years before 2026. The agency describes Fort George Island as a site of human occupation for more than 5,000 years.

Middens of oyster and clam shell, bone and broken pottery built up on the island over time, and they can still be seen in the park. Florida State Parks says midden soil supports rare plants, including peperomia and milk vine. Later settlers burned the shells to make tabby, a building material.

2. The 1570s: Mission San Juan del Puerto Is Established

Spanish missionaries established Mission San Juan del Puerto on Fort George Island during the 1570s. The National Park Service says it was one of the largest missions and served nine smaller villages. The island also contained Alicamani, an important village associated with the Saturiwa chiefdom.

Friar Francisco Pareja lived at the mission and documented the Timucua language. His writings included three catechisms and a grammar, and the park service says "Pareja's works are the only source we have for understanding the Timucua language." English forces destroyed the mission in 1702, roughly 125 to 130 years after its founding, and a historical marker on the Ribault Club grounds identifies its history.

3. 1736: A British Fort Gives the Island Its Name

James Oglethorpe built Fort George in 1736, according to Wikipedia. Florida State Parks says the island "was named for a 1736 fort built to defend the southern flank of Georgia when it was a colony." The fort was later razed, and its exact location is not known.

Florida State Parks identifies Mount Cornelia as the hill where the British fort is believed to have stood. The ancient dune remains part of the island's trail system and provides a visible connection to the landscape's military history. The fort's construction dates back 290 years from 2026.

4. The 1870s: A Hotel Brings Resort Development

The Fort George Hotel was built on the island's east side in the 1870s, according to the National Park Service. According to Wikipedia, the hotel opened in 1875 and was destroyed by fire in 1889, while the National Park Service places the fire more broadly in the 1880s. The development introduced a resort chapter that would later continue through private clubs.

Other 19th-century structures also reflect changing island ownership and settlement. The Thompson Tabby House dates to the mid-1800s and takes its name from Charles Thompson, who purchased the island in 1854. St. George Episcopal Church, built in 1882-1883, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

5. 1928: The Ribault Club Opens

The Ribault Club was built in 1928 on the former hotel's site, atop older shell middens. Wikipedia credits its Colonial Revival design to Maurice Fatio and Mellen Clark Greeley and says the club is named for French explorer Jean Ribault. Florida State Parks describes a 16,000-square-foot clubhouse with fluted pilasters, classic arches and entablatures.

Two clubs operated on the island during the 1920s, including the Fort George Club near the Kingsley house. The Ribault Club also featured a Scottish-style golf course, but the Great Depression disrupted the club's early business and ownership changed repeatedly. The broader private-club era ended amid the Depression and World War II.

6. 1989: Florida Purchases 581 Acres

Florida acquired 581 acres on Fort George Island through its Conservation and Recreation Lands program in 1989. Earlier in the 1980s, Florida State Parks says, Billy Arnold and other locals rebuffed a proposed resort development on the island. The Florida Park Service also bought the Ribault Club in 1989, after the building had changed hands many times.

The Florida Park Service continued operating the former golf course through 1991 before allowing it to return to a natural state. Restoration of the Ribault Club included visitor exhibits installed in 2003, and the building now houses the park visitor center through a partnership of the Florida Park Service, the National Park Service and the City of Jacksonville. The club was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 11, 2000.

Mount Cornelia: An Ancient Dune With a Military Connection

Mount Cornelia stands approximately three-quarters of a mile north of the Ribault Club along the park's trail. Florida State Parks describes it as "one of the tallest dunes on the eastern seaboard" and "a true Florida hill." The agency also says the British fort is believed to have stood atop this hill. Visitors reach it on foot along the trail north of the clubhouse.

4.4 Miles of Cycling and 3 Miles of Trails

Fort George Island has a 4.4-mile bicycle loop that combines paved roads and hard-packed gravel surfaces. The park also describes a 3-mile hiking and biking trail through the former golf course, although another state park description refers to a 4-mile Fairway Loop. The routes pass through areas where former recreational development has returned to a more natural landscape.

Point Isabel offers an overlook at a T-junction along the trail system. A one-third-mile spur connects toward Kingsley Plantation, a National Park Service historic site on the island. Its grounds are open Wednesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Visiting Fort George Island: Hours, Admission and Directions

Fort George Island Cultural State Park opens at 8 a.m. and closes at sunset every day of the year. The restored Ribault Club serves as the visitor center Wednesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., according to the Florida Park Service and National Park Service. Admission and parking are free, and the visitor center contains exhibits on the island's history.

Drivers approaching from Interstate 295 can take Exit 41 to Heckscher Drive, also designated State Road 105. They should travel approximately 10 miles east, pass the St. Johns River Ferry landing and turn left at the brown National Park Service and Florida Park Service signs. Visitors approaching from Amelia Island can follow A1A south across Big Talbot and Little Talbot islands, and the park service notes that a car is needed.

The park also provides a kayak launch onto the Fort George River. The Ribault Club hosts the biennial Timucuan Science and History Symposium, connecting the historic property with ongoing educational activities. Visitors can use the clubhouse exhibits and surrounding trails to explore several periods of the island's history in one trip.

Protecting More Than 5,000 Years of History

Fort George Island belongs to the larger Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, established in 1988. The preserve covers more than 46,000 acres, with approximately 9,000 acres owned by the National Park Service and the remainder divided among state, city, nonprofit and private holdings. Those lands protect cultural and environmental resources throughout the region.

The island's shell middens are not loose material available for collection. According to the National Park Service, disturbing or removing material from any shell mound or midden is prohibited. Those deposits preserve evidence of Indigenous occupation and remain an important part of the island's historical record.

## How we did this Jax Times compiled this history using Florida State Parks information on Fort George Island, the Rollins Ring, the Ribault Club, Mount Cornelia, trail access and conservation efforts, including archived park pages retrieved Oct. 28, 2026. We also used National Park Service information, Timucuan Parks Foundation visitor details and Wikipedia for historical dates and background where identified. Anniversary figures were calculated through 2026, and conflicting trail lengths or historical dates were attributed rather than presented as exact, independently confirmed measurements.