Ft. George Island Cultural State Park & Kingsley Plantation

This trip will be led by members of the National Park Service and the Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Recreation and Parks.

This group will ride on the SS Marine pontoon boat along Sisters Creek through The Nature Conservancy's Machaba Balu Preserve to Ft. George Island Cultural State Park in the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve. Attendees will then take a guided tour of the Kingsley Plantation site and then drive to the Ribault Club. Once there, attendees will tour the building and grounds of the Ribault Club and hike along Ft. George Island's multi-use trail, along portions of the former Ribault Club golf course, onto Mount Cornelia (highest point along the coast south of North Carolina), and the Neff House, ultimately ending back at the Ribault Club.

Native Americans feasted here, colonists built a fort, and the Smart Set of the 1920s came for vacations. A site of human occupation for over 5,000 years, Fort George Island was named for a 1736 fort built to defend the southern flank of Georgia when it was a colony. Today's visitors come for boating, fishing, off-road bicycling, and hiking. Key attractions include the Kingsley Plantation and the recently restored Ribault Club.

The Kingsley Plantation, administered by the National Park Service, is located on Fort George Island and includes the plantation house, a kitchen house, a barn, and the ruins of 25 of the original slave cabins. The structures at the site date to the plantation era of the island. The Kingsley Plantation was named for one of several plantation owners, Zephaniah Kingsley, who operated the property from 1813-1839.

Explore life on a nineteenth-century Florida plantation. Discover the stories of the life and times of Zephaniah Kingsley, his African wife Anna, and the hundreds of men, women, and children who were enslaved at the plantation.

The Ribault Club was established in 1928 as a playground for the affluent. The Club was marketed to wealthy Northerners and the Jacksonville elite as an early attempt to develop Florida's real estate and tourism potential. The Club faltered through the Depression and World War II. It was sold several times, used for a variety of purposes, and finally boarded up and left as a distant reminder of what once was. Recently, the Florida Park Service assembled a group of interested citizens to determine if the club was worth saving and how it could be used to best serve the community in the park setting. Interest and support rallied. Initial restoration funding began with the Florida Park Service and Historic Preservation Grants from the Florida Department of State. The project was completed through the innovative partnership between the City of Jacksonville, the National Park Service, and the Florida Park Service, now known as the Timucuan Trail State and National Parks.

This historic landmark now serves as a gateway to the Timucuan Trail, with interpretive displays and an Eastern National book store, orienting visitors to the rich 6000 year history of Fort George Island.

Note: Expect to hike approximately 1.5 miles along mostly canopied trails. Comfortable shoes and clothes are recommended.