St. Marys River (Florida–Georgia)

thumb|right|St. Marys River seen from [[Fort Clinch, Florida, with nuclear submarine returning to the sub base at Kings Bay, Georgia]]

The St. Marys River (named Saint Marys River by the United States Geological Survey,) is a river in the southeastern United States. The river was known to the Timucua as Thlathlothlaguphka, or Phlaphlagaphgaw, meaning "rotten fish". French explorer Jean Ribault named the river the Seine when he encountered it in 1562. From near its source in the Okefenokee Swamp, to its mouth at the Atlantic Ocean, it forms a portion of the border between the U.S. states of Georgia and Florida. Part of the river runs along the southernmost point in the state of Georgia.

The St. Marys River rises as a tiny stream flowing from the western edge of Trail Ridge, the geological relic of a barrier island/dune system, and into the southeastern Okefenokee Swamp. Arching to the northwest, it loses its channel within the swamp, then turns back to the southwest and reforms a stream, at which point it becomes the St. Marys River. Joined by another stream, Moccasin Creek, the river emerges from the Okefenokee Swamp at Baxter, Florida/Moniac, Georgia. It then flows south, then east, then north, then east-southeast intersecting I-95 near Yulee, and finally emptying its waters into the Atlantic, near St. Marys, Georgia and Fernandina Beach, Florida.

Name

The U.S. Board on Geographic Names discourages the use of apostrophes in place names, including St. Marys River.

1805 incident

On 6 July 1805, Lieutenant Robert Pigot of arrived off the harbour in the French privateer schooner Matilda, which the British had captured three days earlier. On 7 July Pigot took Matilda up the St Marys River to attack three vessels reported to be there. Along the way militia and riflemen fired on Matilda. Eventually the British reached the three vessels, which were lashed in a line across the river. They consisted of a Spanish privateer schooner and her two British prizes, the ship and the brig Ceres, which the Spanish privateer had captured some two months earlier. The Spaniards had armed Golden Grove with eight 6-pounder guns and six swivels, and given her a crew of 50 men. The brig too was armed with swivels and small arms. The Spanish schooner carried six guns and a crew of 70 men.

War of 1812

See Battle of Fort Peter

Literature

Martin, Charles. Where the River Ends. New York, Broadway Books, 2008. . An artist and his dying wife fulfill her wish of one last canoe ride from the headwaters of the St. Marys to the sea.

List of crossings

{| class="wikitable"

! Crossing

! Carries

!Image

! Location

! Coordinates

! colspan="4" |Headwaters (Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge)

|

| rowspan=2|Baxter-Moniac

|

|NS Rail Bridge

| Valdosta District

|

|Reynolds Bridge Road (Abandoned)

|Culyer-Moniac

|

| rowspan=2|Baker County-Charlton County

|

! colspan="3" |Confluence with South Prong of the St. Mary's River

|

|NS Rail Bridge

|| Valdosta District

| rowspan=2|Saint George-Kent

|

|A.E. Bell Bridge

|

|Tracy's Ferry (Abandoned)

|Tracy's Ferry Road-Tracey Road

|Trader's Hill-Boulogne

|

|CSX Rail Bridge

|25px Nahunta Subdivision

| rowspan=2|Boulogne-Folkston

|

|70x70px

|

! colspan="3" |Confluence with Little St. Mary's River

| rowspan=4|Gross-Kingsland

|

|First Coast Railroad Seals Division (formerly CSX Kingsland Subdivision)

|70x70px

|

|Blue Bridge

|70x70px

|

! colspan="3" |confluence with Bells River

| rowspan=3|Fernandina Beach-St. Mary's

|

! colspan="3" |confluence with Jolly River (south) and Cumberland River (north)

|

! colspan="3" |confluence with Amelia River

|

! colspan="4 inc" |Mouth (Atlantic Ocean)

|

References

External links

State of Florida: Guide to the St. Marys River

Name

1805 incident

War of 1812

Literature

List of crossings

See also

References

External links