There is a Swimming Pool Below That Deck

 

Cumberland always has something going on.

A hot button issue at this moment was the release of the Former Reserved Properties Management Plan and Environmental Assessment (FRPMP) by the National Park Service (NPS). Released back in July with a 30 day public comment period,  thousands provided their insight towards the NPS's choice approach to the issue. The considered plan by the NPS is amazing considering that the proposed plan dealt with the management of five expired agreements which included seven properties or tracts that comprised approximately 50 acres of land; seven residential homes; and a number of smaller structures. The environmental assessment associated with the management plan analyzed the potential impacts to the human environment that resulted with two alternative courses of action. Those alternatives are: Alternative A - no action and Alternative B - allow a mixture of removal and adaptive re-use of structures.

The NPS prefers plan Alternative B. This plan will not impair park resources or values. Within the Alternative B plan, the NPS would preserve and protect the historic structures at The Grange, Beach Creek Dock House, and Stafford Beach House as required by applicable law and policy.

Click link below for the FRPMP details.

http://parkplanning.nps.gov/document.cfm?parkID=371&projectID=28794&documentID=39937

At this same time in America, preservationist are trying to come to grips with the importance of preserving truly ordinary kinds of structures. An issue that I would like to discuss is the historic Stafford Beach House. From the FRPMP report, the NPS list the structure as "potentially eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places and List of Classified Structures". With this quote in the report, I feel that the NPS knows that the beach house is historic, but just how old is this structure?

BUT FIRST

Jump back to the original paragraph of the “30 day comment period”. There is a grassroots organization called Wild Cumberland (WC) dedicated to protecting the ecology, wilderness, and wildlife of Cumberland Island.

Their web site is here:

http://wildcumberland.org/

Wild Cumberland is a chapter of the famous group called Wilderness Watch. Not only does the Wilderness Watch have articles dealing with the recent activities of the FRPMP but Wild Cumberland, too. Located within Wild Cumberland's website are suggested comments for interested people that wanted to respond with comments to the NPS plan about the FRPMP.

The WC comments are located here:

http://wildcumberland.org/?p=751

A portion of the WC suggested comments is located below:

“However, I am concerned about the park’s plan to keep and maintain four additional retained estate houses for internal park use, including a structure within the original wilderness boundaries. None of the structures are historic.............”

 

I wonder how many people associated with Wilderness Watch and WC responded to the NPS in part with this structured suggested comment “None of the structures are historic”.

It is one of amazement as to the resources and manpower of lawyers and people of intellect at the disposal of WC. Considering that, in my opinion it is not fair for them to twist the facts. They will tell you what they want you to know, but you'll see below what I want to show you.

The Journey Begins:

The Stafford Beach House is located within an one acre tract approximately 250 yards from the beach on the western edge of the dune field at the interface with the maritime oak forest. Included within this tract is a small two sectioned beach bungalow with a large wooden deck and a detached small modern addition. The Stafford Beach Cottage tract came into the hands of the NPS in the year 2000.

It is a very detailed and complicated process for this blog to discuss as to how and who used estate properties. The official division of property on Cumberland Island by the heirs of Lucy C. Carnegie didn't take place until 1965.

The Stafford Beach Tract was “inherited” by Millicent Sprague Monks at the death of her mother “Lucy C. Carnegie Sprague Rice”, who was the sister of Nancy Carnegie Rockefeller, and the daughters of Andrew & Bertha Carnegie II, the son of Thomas and Lucy C. Carnegie.

“Just before I inherited the beach house..................not long before she died, mother told me that I would inherent a tract of land beside the small beach house on Cumberland Island. We added a kitchen, small bunk beds for the children, a room for ourselves, a small leaky pool and a deck. The beach house was the only house left intact and livable on the twenty miles of beach.”1

In January 1975 Millicent Monks retained a twenty-five-year right to the Stafford Beach House tract.  Mrs. Monks ended up conveying the property to her nephew and niece, Franklin W. Foster and Lucy Carnegie Sprague Foster.2

Include within the majority of the island, this division of the Stafford Beach House tract provided ownership of a part of Cumby Island that was, since 1783, held majority by just four families for 228 years.

Now to the Georgia Archives:

Last Saturday I was in Atlanta and I decided to take a detour to Morrow to view the Carnegie Family Estate Collection at the Georgia Archives. The goal of this venture - was the Stafford Beach House at least fifty years old. From the photo below, anyone can tell by just looking at the construction and details of the original section of the “shotgun styled” structure that she has a little bit of age to her.

The search did not take long. Included within this search, this is the only help that I will give to WC regarding documentation, I found a letter within a file folder.

File folder: 9-1-009

 

A typed letter dated: March 20, 1953

From: Norman T. Collett “Estate Manager”

To: Leo P. Larkin, Assistant Trust Officer,

Peoples First National Bank & Trust Company

Pittsburgh, 30. Pa.

Titled: Brief Report of Conditions on the Island

This report listed the conditions of buildings within the areas of Dungeness, Greyfield, Stafford, Chimneys, and Plum Orchard estates.

Under the listing of items for The Stafford Estate; Beach House: repairs made to the foundation and steps

Now, how old does a property have to be to qualify

for a National Register listing?

Properties eligible for listing in the National Register

are at least 50 years old.

The Stafford Beach House:

at least 1953 + 50 years = the year of 2003

 WC may want to check out the Historical Map and Chart Collection at the Office of Coast Survey at:

http://historicalcharts.noaa.gov/historicals/search

I see a major change between 1925 & 1927 on the maps in the roads leading from the Stafford House to this area of the beach. Kinda a clue to start from here!

Located here, http://wildcumberland.org/?p=764 WC says,

“Keeping the Stafford Beach House as yet another overnight accommodation place needs justification. The EA section on “Historic Structures” provides no insight to its historical significance, and no one can seem to (or is willing to) provide a date of construction. I have requested that information several times. Increased activities there affect the ambiance at the near-by Stafford campground and beach.”

The Stafford Beach House is located a half mile from the campsite. 

Check out a previous blog post below for the historical significance of the Stafford Beach Cottage:
http://bubbajunk-asmalltownboy.blogspot.com/search/label/Stafford%20Beach%20Cottage

Since Cumby Island is such a concern to WC, they may want to consider in hiring an intern or an architectural historian and dig a little deeper, they will find it way before 1953!

 

 

1.  Monks, Millicent. Songs of Three Islands. New York: Atlas and Company, 2010. Print

2.  Dilsaver, Lary. Cumberland Island National Seashore A History of Conservation Conflict. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2004. Print

The Grange

The forty year reserved estate lease

for the rights of The Grange tract

expired today.

The Georgian styled house rests nestled in oaks and magnolias between Dungeness and the Carriage House. Right outside the recessed main entrance is a view of the former Pool House.

I'm sure that it was heartache for the families watching that structure deteriorate.

In Mary Bullard's book, Cumberland Island: A History, she states "construction on the Grange, the last large house built on the Dungeness Estate, began in 1902 and was completed by the end of 1903, by which time a total of $25,483 had been spent on the house."

Shaded by the trees, 

the side of The Grange is the best view one can get

 walking down Magnolia Avenue.

Roughly 60'x57', the stuccoed finish residence is now in the hands of the park service.

Below is a link to a recent article in the Tribune and Georgian newspaper located in St. Marys.

http://www.tribune-georgian.com/articles/2010/12/10/news/top_stories/1topstory12.10.txt

Newspaper 1

The Albany Herald

October, 11, 2010

Three Books You Need To Read

Since my last visit to the island and my recent re-acquaintance with Lary Dilsaver's book, many of my doubts have been answered about the NPS and CUIS.  I recommend to anyone interested in the island to read the three books that I will list at the end of this post.

But first, I would like to share with you Bubbajunk bloggers a few articles on Cumberland Island.



Although you can count my visits to Cumberland Island on one hand, I have continuously collected throughout my life every bit of information about the island that came my way.  Below are three articles that I have from The Atlanta Journal and Constitution Magazine.

1. December 5, 1965

    2. March 9, 1969

3. January 18, 1970

 

 

Now For Your Three Books to Read

Cumberland Island: A History

 Written by: Mary R. Bullard

The best book ever written about the history of the island.  Very detailed and fascinating. The notes are even a book within themselves.

The next two books are on the history of the negotiations between the landowners on Cumberland Island

and the National Park Service.

You can view this book on-line.

http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/cuis/dilsaver/index.htm

Joe Graves, a descendant of the Carnegie family, writes a very interesting story about what the Carnegie's endured trying to help create the Cumberland Island National Seashore.

Torpedo Bottles

Previously, I mentioned in an post that my parents and relatives visited Cumberland Island in the summer of 1970. See the link below:

http://bubbajunk-asmalltownboy.blogspot.com/2010/06/plum-orchard-carriage-house.html

Back then, The National Park Foundation had been recently established by Congress for the purpose of purchasing "collecting" property on Cumberland Island for a possible future of a national seashore under the jurisdiction of the NPS. The well established non-for-profit Andrew W. Mellon Foundation contributed to the NPF roughly $5.5 million to  purchase Fraser's two tracts towards the possible seashore. My Uncle Joe had caught wind of that fact and retained permission from Charles Fraser for my family to visit and camp on his southern tract.

 Being the avid antique bottle hunters that they are, my family while camping descended upon the old Dungeness household dump site.  Below are a few photos of some of the antique bottles dug from the old household pit.

 

Torpedo Bottles

The bottles above are known as torpedo bottles. The molded bottles were designed with rounded bases to ensure that they rested on their side so the wired down cork in the blob would not dry out. The torpedo bottles were used for ginger ale, soda, and mineral waters.

The majority of the bottles that are dug or found in this country date from the 1870's to the 1910's and were imported from the United Kingdom. The most common type were ginger ale bottles.

The company that dominated the market in the late 1800s was the firm Cochrane and Cantrell.

The bottles above are worth very little. 

If your fortunate, $10.00 a pop.

 

Tinted aqua or green torpedo bottles with no embossing are very common. Torpedo bottles that are colored amber, emerald green, or cobalt blue are worth more.

Ceramic Jam Crocks

The crocks have the same inscription stamped on the bottom. Only one has a label applied before glazing that is decorated with acorns and leaves bearing the inscriptions: GRAND MEDAL OF MERIT VIENNA 1873 - JAMES KEILLER & SONS - DUNDEE MARMALADE - ONLY PRIZE MEDAL FOR MARMALADE LONDON, 1862 - Great Britain.

It is great that the torpedo bottles and crocks have survived for over a hundred years.  We will donate the many torpedo bottles and ceramic crocks to the CUIS.

 

 

The Grange

The Grange as it appeared in the summer of 1970.

The portico is not original to the structure and it is being

held up by tree logs.

Lucy C. Carnegie built The Grange probably around the late 1890's.  The estate manager William E. Page and his wife lived in the structure until his death.

The Grange is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is part of the Dungeness Historic District.  The residence was built just behind the neglected and ruined Pool House.

An old slide of The Pool House in 1970.

The house and it's few acreages are in a Reserved Property Agreement (RPA) with Carnegie descendants.  The family has maintained the structure throughout the years and appears to be reasonably sound. I believe that they have learned that keeping a maintained roof helps to preserve a structure.

The RPA lease will expire in a few months and become property of the NPS.  Once the ownership is taken, the NPS will be responsible for maintaining and renovating the historic significant structure, forever.

The problem, and everyone knows this, no additional funding will be available for this home or any of the other 100 or so structures to be maintained on the island, especially during the state of the present economy.

I believe that the NPS should consider extending the present RPA to the present owner so that the building will be preserved for generations to come.  We are learning now that some property is deteriorating in the NPS hands because of lack of funding.  The current owner has stated they would upgrade the structure to NPS standards.

For the record, I do not know any previous or current owners of The Grange.  I'm just a concerned citizen.

Please check out these sites:

http://parkplanning.nps.gov/projectHome.cfm?parkID=371&projectId=28794

http://parkplanning.nps.gov/document.cfm?parkID=371&projectId=28794&documentID=30789

http://parkplanning.nps.gov/document.cfm?parkID=371&projectId=28794&documentID=34617

Please comment on your concerns here about The Grange and The Stafford Beach Cottage and how they need to be preserved and maintained.

http://www.hscl.cr.nps.gov/insidenps/summary.asp
The National Park Service List of Classified Structures for Cumberland Island National Seashore.

What I Found In The Basement - But First.................

It is like the Nazareth song,

"I woke up this morning
And my cat had died
I'm gonna miss her
Sat down and cried"

Check it out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9onbJfiLCV0

But first, I'll get to that song and my cat Eldin later.
The good news about my ramblings on Cumberland Island is that the island has a new park superintendent named Fred Boyles.  Mr. Boyles moved from my hometown of Americus to St. Mary's to become the manager of the island.
Mr. Boyles was "very" well liked and loved by the Americus community and it was and still is a great major shock to this area that he is no longer here.  If  I'm remembering correctly, he even served a term in Iraq {under the 2nd G Bush) while serving as the park superintendent of Andersonville National Historic Site and the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site, all located within this county of Sumter.
Having not lived on the island but keeping abreast of the events since a small child, I do hope that he can make a difference in the history of the island.  There is so much going on within this island and they can not even keep up and have enough money to cope with it.
The State of Georgia Governors from Maddox to Carter, even the governors and legislative politicians of the 1950's, have let the citizens of Georgia and the USA DOWN along with Nixon and our national government. Our Congress appointed no "real" money to the NPS to mothball or to even preserve the more important architecturally structures of the island except for the renovations of minor buildings of the Dungeness Estate, and to providing for the control of private properties.
Does anyone know what just a new roof and mothballing a structure could mean?  Check out The Pool House in the previous blog posts.
I would like to know, for whom the people or persons are, making the decisions as to what little money is spent on: research in general, oral research, and research of the history at the Georgia Archives within the Carnegie Collection. 
Not anything better has been done for Cumberland by the NPS than the 1970's Research Study of the island by Louis Torres and the forced "late" management plan of the Cumberland Island Seashore by the NPS in the late 80's. I guess all of this was just for the sake of stopping a public development of a private island and for the NPS trying not to have another state park like Jekyll Island.  I understand why, but not just how.
The NPS can get all the property they want, but can the NPS afford to preserver it?
Can't you just imagine what Teddy Roosevelt is grimacing about at this moment.

It has been a long day so I will get with you on my basement find tomorrow.

Stafford Beach Cottage

Stafford Beach Cottage and approximately one acre of property came into the hands of the National Park Service around the year 2000.

First I need to explain a RPA. There are two types of property owners on the island: life estate holders and those with a term for a specific number of years. These owners have what is called a Reserve Property Agreement (RPA) that was granted to them during the governments land acquisitions of the late 60's and early 70's.
The RPA expired and now belongs to the NPS. The NPS has included the cottage into what is termed the 2010ers. The 2010ers are a group of RPAs that will come into the possession of the NPS. They will be determining which property and structures will be beneficial to the NPS.

The Stafford Beach Cottage , built by the Carnegie's, helped shape the character and identity of Cumberland Island through the Carnegie's outdoor activities and with experiences of their everyday life on the island estates. The value of the property and beach cottage is determined through the landscape and it's vernacular design. The main structures principal features from the period in which the cottage was built are still intact and visually, there are no major structural damage. The setting has only changed through the typical natural process of environmental changes. The Stafford Beach Cottage and surrounding property still has historic identity.

The floor plan was drawn from researching photographs.

It is important to preserve the cottage because it's cultural value served as a recreational venue for the Carnegie's and their friend's social activities and traditions. The purpose of the structure was to be a place devoted to recreation and not as a residence.

Site Plan

From a list of five, a decision will be made upon this cottage: (1) use for park housing, (2) administrative offices, storage etc......., (3) public use such as a visitor's center, environmental research station etc......., (4) tear the structure down, and (5) Have the structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
We need for citizens to contact their local, regional and national political officials and let them know that the cottage needs to be preserved. Next, contact and email the NPS at their web site here. http://www.nps.gov/cuis/contacts.htm
Thank you to my friend for the use of her photos of the cottage. Check out her web site. The name says it all!http://www.cumberlandislandquiltchick.com/