{"nrhp_refnum":"84000938","name":"Duck House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Cumberland Island","address_restricted":false,"city":"St. Marys","county":"Camden County","state":"GA","lat":30.847488991000034,"lon":-81.43058204499994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-02-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story frame hunting camp in vernacular stick style, built about 1900 on Cumberland Island near St. Marys, Camden County, Georgia, for the Carnegie family and their male guests.","why_significant":"It is significant in leisure/resorts as the only surviving example of the recreational buildings the Carnegie family built on the island, reflecting the sporting life of the elite at the turn of the century. It also gained military significance during World War II, when the local Coast Watch detachment used it as a point for surveying the coast for German submarines or saboteurs.","narrative":"Built about 1900 on Cumberland Island, Georgia, the Duck House is a small one-story frame hunting camp with a vernacular stick style design. Its L-shaped plan includes a wrap-around porch, a corrugated metal hipped roof, horizontal clapboard siding and two fireplaces inside. The Carnegie family built it for the exclusive use of the Carnegie men and their male guests, while the women took day trips elsewhere on the island. It is the only remaining example of the recreational buildings the family built there, and it reflects the sporting pastimes of the elite at the turn of the century. The Carnegies used the island less during the 1920s and abandoned the camp. During World War II, the Coast Watch used it as a lookout point for German submarines or saboteurs, and some rooms still carry inscriptions the unit assigned. Sand dunes now encroach on the building, and its windows and doors are missing, but it still conveys its original purpose.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Vernacular stick style","criteria":[],"status_note":"Abandoned in the 1920s and not in active use for about fifty years; deteriorated somewhat but retains integrity, with windows and doors missing and sand encroaching on the porch.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:40.274369-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/84000938.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93205903","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16974235"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/camden-county/duck-house-84000938/"}