Darien—Situated at the mouth of the Altamaha River, surrounded by the winding salt marshes of McIntosh County, is the city of Darien.
History buffs may know Darien as Georgia’s second-oldest city, founded in 1736, just three years after Savannah. But centuries before it became a British holding, this area of coastal plains was inhabited by the Guale Indian tribe.
Over time, it felt the footprints of 16th and 17th-century Spanish missionaries, British soldiers, and Scottish Highlanders. It was the forced home of enslaved people, a target of Union soldiers, and the home of bankers and timber barons who made Darien one the world’s leading exporters of pine timber until the early 1920s.
Today, the small community of 1,500 depends on commercial fishing. Despite the increasingly fragile industry, Darien remains a dining destination for fresh shrimp, clams, and fish caught just off her shores and in view of Sapelo Island.
Recent investment in downtown Darien has led to new lodging, restaurants and shops that build on the community’s attraction as a destination for exploring historical points of interest, shopping for antiques, or simply watching the sun set behind marsh grass—and looking for Altie, the mysterious serpentine creature and official mascot of McIntosh County, alleged to inhabit the Altamaha River.
Layers of History
A good starting point for understanding Darien’s history is Fort King George Historic Site. Established in 1721, it was the first English settlement in Georgia and the southernmost British Colonial outpost on the Atlantic seaboard. The fort was abandoned by the British in 1726 and resettled four years later by Scottish Highlanders brought by Gen. James Oglethorpe. This colonial settlement, originally called New Inverness, would eventually become the port city of Darien, with an economy supported largely by their milling efforts.
Today, the site includes a museum and replicas of the original fort, including barracks, palisades and a moat. Live reenactments at this once strategic defense point against the Spanish and the French take place in March and November.
One mile south of Darien on U.S. Highway 17 sits Butler Island, the former site of a large rice plantation. It is named after Major Pierce Butler, a Founding Father and U.S. senator from South Carolina who owned the property from 1790 until his death in 1822.
During the antebellum period, more than 900 people were enslaved on the 1,500-acre property. One of Butler’s heirs, Pierce Mease Butler, has the ignominious distinction of being responsible for the largest recorded slave auction in American history. Over a two-day period in 1859, 436 people enslaved at Butler Island Plantation were sold at auction in Savannah. Husbands, wives and children were torn apart in an event referred to as the Weeping Time. Recent efforts have been made to honor the enslaved people of Butler Island.
A tall brick chimney, the remains of a steam-powered rice mill, is visible from the highway. It is one of two surviving structures (the other is remnants of a cistern) from the original plantation, which remained in the Butler family until the early 1920s. In 1926, former New York Yankees co-owner Colonel T.L. Huston purchased the property and converted it into a dairy and lettuce farm. He also built the Huston House, the white house that still stands today. Today the Georgia Department of Natural Resources manages the grounds, which are open daily to the public for picnicking, fishing, birding and walking. The Huston House, which is not inhabited nor maintained, was placed on the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation’s “Places in Peril” list in 2019.
The Waterfront Park public green space and dock path that overlook the Darien River in downtown Darien was the landing site for Union troops who burned the town during the Civil War. Ruins of historic warehouses still line the waterfront; few buildings survived the 1863 fire. One is the Adam Strain Building at the corner of Broad and Screven streets near the waterfront. One of coastal Georgia’s last intact tabby structures (a building constructed from a mixture of oyster shells, sand, water and lime), it is currently being restored and will serve as a nanobrewery and event space.
‘Heart and Soul’ of Darien
The timber industry helped to reestablish Darien after the Civil War, but when that supply was exhausted in the early 20th century, the commercial seafood industry became the catalyst for growth.
“The fishing industry, unfortunately, is dwindling,” said Kat Hoyt, president and CEO of the Darien-McIntosh Chamber of Commerce. “Fishermen are retiring and the next generation is not doing it.”
In 2020, there were only 205 registered shrimp trawlers in Georgia compared to the nearly 1,500 commercial shrimpers that held licenses in the state in the late 1970s.
The cost of fuel, boat maintenance, dockage and changing regulations have all factored into the decline of the shrimping industry that has long been associated with this coastal community, Hoyt said.
Some retired shrimp boats now cater to tourists. The Captain Gabby, for example, offers customized overnight trips for exploring the waters of coastal Georgia. The 42-foot wooden trawler sleeps up to six guests, who can bring their own food or leave the cooking to the crew.
The place to experience the continued importance of fishing as an economic and cultural driver for Darien is along the docks of the Sapelo River in Townsend, 14 miles north of Darien. Here, you’ll find fishing operations like Sapelo Sea Farms, which grows clams and harvests wild oysters in nearby waters, and the adjoining Fish Dock Bar & Grill. Besides serving freshly caught fish and seafood from the boats that unload just steps away, the Fish Dock offers idyllic views of the river and the processing facility where littleneck clams are sized and graded.
“Being a fishing community is still the heart and soul of Darien,” said Hoyt.
For the last 55 years, the city has celebrated the local shrimping industry with the Blessing of the Fleet. The three-day festival, taking place this year April 21-23, marks the unofficial arrival of shrimping season. The event features live music, food, an art fair, fireworks, a 5K race, and a pancake breakfast for fishermen hosted by the local Lion’s Club. It culminates on Sunday when fishing boats line up on the Darien River and sail to the apex of the bridge where a minister blesses them so they might have a safe and bountiful season.
Exploring Downtown Darien
When the town isn’t swelling with thousands of visitors for its annual spring festival, the pace is slow and with a neighborly kindness. “We have that Mayberry feeling here,” Hoyt said. “Anywhere you go, you’re going to see somebody you know. You’ll get called by name, invited to sit at tables. I think I have only eaten by myself unintentionally once without someone inviting me to eat,” said Hoyt, who lived in the area as a young girl and returned eight years ago.
In Hoyt’s estimation, “The best way to experience downtown Darien is to walk.”
A stay at the well-appointed Open Gates Bed & Breakfast puts you squarely in the Vernon Square–Columbus Square Historic District on the city’s eastern side. Both squares were part of the original 1805 city plan modeled after Oglethorpe’s plan for Savannah.
A must-stop on Vernon Square is Sugar Marsh Cottage. Owner Dale Potts welcomes tour buses into the colorful chocolate shop of this 1935 historic home to load up on small-batch sea life-shaped chocolates, toffee, bonbons, truffles, shortbread and other sweets.
