Description
A tabby smokehouse and three tabby slave cabins stand on the northern end of Ossabaw, an island just south of Savannah accessible only by boat.
History
Once the English acquired the island, merchant John Morel purchased it in 1760. He and his descendants constructed a slave plantation on the northern portion of the island where the tabby outbuildings are located. They were erected in the 1820s. The rest of the island was sold to three other slave owners.
After the Civil War, freedmen lived on the island until hurricanes forced them to relocate to the mainland community of Pin Point in 1898. In 1924 Henry and Nell Torrey bought the island and built a Mediterranean stucco mansion on the North End. Their daughter Eleanor and her husband Clifford West established the Ossabaw Project in 1961, inviting artists and researchers to work on the island. In 1978 Mrs. West arranged to sell the island to Georgia to create the state's first heritage preserve.
Location
GPS: N 31°50.309 and W 81°05.544 (tabby outbuildings)
Address: The ferry boat for Ossabaw's North End leaves from Delegal Creek Marina located at 1 Marina Dr., Savannah GA 31411 (in the Landings gated community on Skidaway Island). On Ossabaw an unpaved road goes from the dock through the island. The first building along this road is the Clubhouse. A footpath leads from the Clubhouse to the tabby buildings.
Accessibility: The island is open to visitors several times a year. To learn more about Ossabaw and opportunities to visit the island, see Ossabaw Island Foundation and Ossabaw Island Home.
A tabby smokehouse and three tabby slave cabins stand on the northern end of Ossabaw, an island just south of Savannah accessible only by boat.
History
Once the English acquired the island, merchant John Morel purchased it in 1760. He and his descendants constructed a slave plantation on the northern portion of the island where the tabby outbuildings are located. They were erected in the 1820s. The rest of the island was sold to three other slave owners.
After the Civil War, freedmen lived on the island until hurricanes forced them to relocate to the mainland community of Pin Point in 1898. In 1924 Henry and Nell Torrey bought the island and built a Mediterranean stucco mansion on the North End. Their daughter Eleanor and her husband Clifford West established the Ossabaw Project in 1961, inviting artists and researchers to work on the island. In 1978 Mrs. West arranged to sell the island to Georgia to create the state's first heritage preserve.
Location
GPS: N 31°50.309 and W 81°05.544 (tabby outbuildings)
Address: The ferry boat for Ossabaw's North End leaves from Delegal Creek Marina located at 1 Marina Dr., Savannah GA 31411 (in the Landings gated community on Skidaway Island). On Ossabaw an unpaved road goes from the dock through the island. The first building along this road is the Clubhouse. A footpath leads from the Clubhouse to the tabby buildings.
Accessibility: The island is open to visitors several times a year. To learn more about Ossabaw and opportunities to visit the island, see Ossabaw Island Foundation and Ossabaw Island Home.
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