History Unveiled at the Ice House

Cumberland Island National Seashore

We embark on the 0.8-mile River Trail, as clouds combine to loom above us at Cumberland Island National Seashore. Western views of the grassy shoreline and Drum Point Island entice us as we traverse the smooth leafy path lined by palm fronds. Vines of magnolia and twisting oak branches create an interwoven canopy overhead, distracting us from frequent mounds of horse manure along our route. Giant live oaks are prevalent along the trail, with thick clusters of Spanish moss blanketing their branches and pink and purple-hued moss spots in patterns along their trunks. Broken pieces of bark are strewn at our feet with bright orange mushrooms sprouting from their crevices. The live oak was valuable for the 17th century shipbuilding industry, and Spanish conquistadors obtained the timber on the island by purchase or by illegal cutting.

River Trail

The three-layer forest of live oak and pines, magnolia and saw palmetto bushes, sandy scrub and leaf piles takes us down a path toward the Ice House Museum. We pause for a break at a lookout point of Fancy Bluff Creek on the Cumberland Sound. I sit on the cliff’s mud-filled edge and let my legs dangle. I look out at the beach of sun-bleached oaks with their roots pointing in every direction, signaling the infinite beauty that surrounds.

At the conclusion of the River Trail, we escape the summer heat inside the Ice House Museum, where we view exhibits of human history on the island, from the Timucuan tribes and Guale Indians to the English settlers, Slave Plantation Homes and Civil War events, all the way to the boom of the hotel industry. The island’s rich human history seems unfathomable with the vacancy that now prevails.

Fancy Bluff Creek

Ice House Museum

The former Ice House was constructed by the Carnegies around 1900 to store large blocks of ice delivered across the sea from northern parts of America. The Carnegies continued to own this structure, as well as countless other homes on the island, until the properties were slowly obtained by the National Park Service (NPS). The NPS, as well as the Pentagon, had been interested in Cumberland Island since 1950. The island was highly desired for its remote features, historical significance, conservation opportunities, and coastal access.

Finally, in 1970, the NPS preserved 8,300 acres of Cumberland Island for public use, and the island opened as a national seashore by 1975. In efforts to preserve as much of the island as possible, visitors were capped at 40,000 due to high demand. Even today, camping reservations must be made at least one year in advance, and the NPS has gone to extreme lengths to prevent commercial development. The Greyfield Inn is the only hotel on the island, and less than 1,000 acres are privately owned by residents.

Ice House Museum

Outside the Ice House Museum, picnic tables overlook the Cumberland Sound, and a renovated dock protrudes at the end of Coleman Avenue. Prodigious wild horses roam gracefully in the distance. Raccoons scurry along the edge of the forest, and gopher tortoises saunter around the open field. We quietly approach a light brown horse to cautiously admire its beauty. The horse gnaws on the grass as we watch in awe and silenced whispers, reveling in our close encounter with Cumberland Island wildlife.

Wild Horse

Planning Your Visit:

Read more about our journey to the Dungeness Mansion Ruins and getting caught in a storm on the beach!

References:

Bullard, Mary R. Cumberland Island: A History. The University of Georgia Press. 2003.