Strong Walls From Refuse Fort Frederica National Monument - Saint Simons Island GA
Posted by: 
Don.Morfe
N 31° 13.398 W 081° 23.364
17R E 462912 N 3454414
The settlers of St Simon’s Island in the 1700s used an unusual building material—oyster shells. The colonists found piles of them when they arrived here, discards from long-ago feasts of the local Guale and Mocama Indians.
Waymark Code: WM135YR
Location: Georgia, United States
Date Posted: 09/23/2020
Views: 3
Strong Walls From Refuse-Fort Frederica National Monument-- The settlers of St Simon’s Island in the 1700s used an unusual building material—oyster shells. The colonists found piles of them when they arrived here, discards from long-ago feasts of the local Guale and Mocama Indians. These mounds of shells, or middens, formed the basic ingredient of a crude but durable concrete called tabby.
(captions)
(background) To make tabby, stacked logs and oyster shells, called ricks, were set afire and allowed to burn down to hot embers. The shells were burnt to ash. The wood and ash mixture formed lime. When mixed with water, sand, and more oyster shells the lime served as a binding agent, solidifying the mixture. It was then poured into molds for foundations and walls which were stuccoed and whitewashed to protect them from water damage.
(upper right) The settlers borrowed the recipe for tabby from the Spanish. The word might originate with the Arabic word tabbi, meaning a mixture of mortar and lime or with the Spanish word tapia which means a mud wall. It’s a very old building material dating to the 1500s.
(lower right) The strong walls and foundations of many of Frederica’s buildings are built of tabby.
LOCATION: Marker is in St. Simons Island, Georgia, in Glynn County. Marker can be reached from Mimosa Drive 0.1 miles west of Frederica Drive, on the right when traveling west. The marker is located on the grounds of Fort Frederica National Monument. Marker is at or near this postal address: 6515 Frederica Drive, Saint Simons Island GA 31522, United States of America.
Type of Marker: Fort
Sponsor: National Park Service
Marker #: Not listed
Date: Not listed
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