{"nrhp_refnum":"72001447","name":"Fort Barrington","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"NW of Cox","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cox","county":"McIntosh County","state":"GA","lat":31.480493110000054,"lon":-81.61650447099998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-09-27","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Prehistoric","Historic - Aboriginal","Historic - Non-Aboriginal","Military","Engineering","Transportation","Exploration/Settlement","Architecture","Communications"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Fort Barrington is an archaeological site of a mid-18th century frontier fort, built in 1760, on the north bank of the Altamaha River about 5 miles from Cox in McIntosh County, Georgia. Only low earthen ridges and bastion remnants survive.","why_significant":"The site sat at a pass on the main coastal route from Savannah to St. Augustine, and was a transportation, communications, military and political center for over two centuries. The fort was renamed Fort Howe during the Revolution and served as headquarters for the southern department. The area was also occupied in prehistoric and protohistoric times.","narrative":"Fort Barrington is the remains of a frontier fort on a narrow peninsula along the Altamaha River in McIntosh County, Georgia. Lt. Robert Baillie built it in 1760 and named it for Josiah Barrington, a friend of Oglethorpe. A 1762 record describes a square fort about 75 feet on each side with barracks. During the Revolution it was reoccupied as Fort Howe and served as military headquarters for the southern department, and American troops held it as late as May 1778. It also had strategic roles in the War of 1812 and the Civil War. The location mattered because overland coastal traffic had to use the pass just below it to avoid the Altamaha delta swamps, along an old Indian trail that became the route between Savannah and St. Augustine. Today low sand ridges and two bastions survive, though river action has destroyed much of the site. A private sportsman's club has owned the land since 1909.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Lt. Robert Baillie (built the fortification in 1760)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Ruins in altered condition; held since 1909 as part of a private sportsman's hunting and fishing reserve with a club house, small structures and dock. Part of the original site has been lost to river action.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:40.952277-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/72001447.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72001447/f4c7dcb83e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72001447/f4c7dcb83e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Bubba73 (Jud McCranie)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fort_Barrington,_McIntosh_County,_GA,_US.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Bubba73 (Jud McCranie)</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fort_Barrington,_McIntosh_County,_GA,_US.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93208933","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Barrington","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16837411"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/mcintosh-county/fort-barrington-72001447/"}