St. Catherines Island

St. Catherines Island is one of the Sea Islands or Golden Isles on the coast of the U.S. state of Georgia, 50 miles (80 km) south of Savannah in Liberty County. The island is ten miles (16 km) long and from one to three miles (5 km) wide, located between St. Catherine's Sound and Sapelo Sound. More than half of its 14,640 acres (59 km²) are tidal marsh and wetlands. About half of it is salt marshes, about a quarter is wooded, and it has "fine" beaches. It is owned by the Saint Catherines Island Foundation is not open to the public, aside from the beach below the high tide line.

History

The island has been inhabited for at least 4000 years, and was a Guale settlement by 1576. It was the site of the first Spanish outpost in Georgia. By 1587 it was the northernmost permanent Spanish outpost on the Atlantic Coast. Spanish colonies were planted as far north as Chesapeake Bay, but none lasted more than a year or two. During the 17th century, the mission of Santa Catalina de Guale, located on the island from 1602 to 1680, was the center of the Guale missionary province of Spanish Florida. David Hurst Thomas has focused on Spanish period mission archaeology on St. Catherine's Island. Currently, archaeology of the shell ring on St. Catherines Island is spearheaded by David Hurst Thomas and Matthew C. Sanger.

St Catherine's Island

St Catherine's Island (Welsh: Ynys Catrin) is a small tidal island linked to Tenby in Pembrokeshire, Wales, by Castle beach at low tide. The island, which is known colloquially as St Catherine's Rock, is the location of St Catherine's Fort. The area directly in front of the island is known as the Catterns. In April 2014 the island was opened to the public for the first time since 1979. The fort is currently running tours in which people are able to explore it.

History

During the reign of Elizabeth I, the Earl of Pembroke (“Jasper”, the uncle of Henry VII) was the owner of St Catherine’s Island. Later, the ownership passed to the Corporation of Tenby, which took possession of a number of crown lands. It is recorded in 1856 that a few sheep inhabited the island. An observer described them as “half wild sure footed creatures that run, turn and look, run again and leap from crag to crag almost with the agility of the Alpine Chamois”.

For many centuries a tiny church was the only building on the Island. The remains of the church were demolished when the fort was constructed in 1867. Information on the finds discovered during the demolition can be found at Tenby Museum and Art Gallery. Since the construction of the fort the island has had several owners.

St. Catherine

St. Catherine or Katherine may refer to a number of saints named Catherine, or:

Places

Canada

United Kingdom