Road to the Dungeness Ferry Dock, 2019
Emily J. Gómez 10" x 8" New Cyanotype on Wyndstone Vellum. (16" x 14" framed) This area is the site of a former Timucuan Indian village called Tacatacuru. In 1587, Spanish Franciscan monks built a mission called San Pedro de Mocama adjacent to the village. The mission prospered for nearly 100 years. In the early 1700s, the British, under James Oglethorpe, built two forts on the island. By the early 1800s, the Timucuan population perished due to European/American expansion and disease.
Cumberland Wharf Ruins, 2019
Emily J. Gómez 10" x 8" New Cyanotype on Wyndstone Vellum. (16" x 14" framed) In the 1870s, Cumberland Island served as a resort for tourists traveling through Georgia and Florida via train. As part of their journey, travelers could take steamboats from Brunswick, Georgia to Fernandina and Jacksonville, Florida along the “Cumberland Route.” Steamboats would dock here, bringing day-trippers and vacationers to two hotels that were built at High Point, on the north end of the island. The hotels prospered until the decline of railroad transportation.
The Chimneys, 2019
Emily J. Gómez 10" x 8" New Cyanotype on Wyndstone Vellum. (16" x 14" framed) In the early 1800s, Robert Stafford established a cotton plantation on Cumberland Island. A series of chimneys mark the remains of cabins that housed the enslaved people who worked Stafford’s fields.
Stafford Airfield, 2019
Emily J. Gómez 10" x 8" New Cyanotype on Wyndstone Vellum. (16" x 14" framed) This area, which serves as a runway for small planes, was the site of Robert Stafford’s cotton fields. Also on this site are remnants of shell mounds and a low circular sand mound known as Stafford Airfield Mound. The mounds have been greatly reduced in size due to looting and agricultural activity.
The First African Baptist Church (Exterior) at the Settlement , 2019
Emily J. Gómez 10" x 8" New Cyanotype on Wyndstone Vellum. (16" x 14" framed) The Settlement is an area of land on the north end settled by freed African-American slaves after the civil war. The First African Baptist Church, first a log cabin, then rebuilt by community members in 1937, was one of the most important structures to the community. It is best known as the site where John F. Kennedy, Jr. and Carolyn Bessette were wed in 1996
The First African Baptist Church (Interior) at the Settlement, 2019
Emily J. Gómez 10" x 8" New Cyanotype on Wyndstone Vellum. (16" x 14" framed) The Settlement is an area of land on the north end settled by freed African-American slaves after the civil war. The First African Baptist Church, first a log cabin, then rebuilt by community members in 1937, was one of the most important structures to the community. It is best known as the site where John F. Kennedy, Jr. and Carolyn Bessette were wed in 1996
Plum Orchard Mansion, 2019
Emily J. Gómez 10" x 8" New Cyanotype on Wyndstone Vellum. (16" x 14" framed) In 1898, construction began on this mansion built for George Lauder Carnegie and Margaret Thaw as a wedding present from George’s mother, Lucy Carnegie. It was their primary winter residence until 1921 when George died. In the mid-2000s legislation was passed to restore the mansion. Today, visitors tour the mansion to catch a glimpse of what life may have been like during the Carnegie’s time on the island.
Primus and Amanda Mitchell's Grave, 2019
Emily J. Gómez 10" x 8" New Cyanotype on Wyndstone Vellum. (16" x 14" framed) Primus Mitchell and his wife Amanda are buried in High Point Cemetery on the north end of the island. Their lives began as slaves on Robert Stafford’s plantation. In 1892 they lived at The Settlement, where African-American farmers had bought land. They were instrumental in building the First African Baptist church where Primus was a preacher. They worked at the hotels at High Point, and as “field hands” for the Carnegies during their lifetimes.
Mercury, 2019
Emily J. Gómez 10" x 8" New Cyanotype on Wyndstone Vellum. (16" x 14" framed) To the west of the ruins of Dungeness Mansion stands a replica of a Carnegie-era statue of Mercury. The statue serves as a symbol of the opulent gardens and formal sitting areas that Lucy Carnegie designed for her estate.
Dungeness Ruins, 2019
Emily J. Gómez 10" x 8" New Cyanotype on Wyndstone Vellum. (16" x 14" framed) In the 19th century the Carnegie family of Pittsburgh owned 90% of the island. Thomas Carnegie and his wife Lucy built Dungeness, a 59-room Scottish-style mansion on the south end of the island as a winter getaway. The estate flourished until the 1920s, and was left abandoned during the Great Depression. In 1959, a fire destroyed the mansion, leaving the ruins that we see today.