High Point-Half Moon Bluff Historic District
Also known as: Martin's Half Moon Bluff Tract-High Point; North End; Candler
Why it's listed
At the north end of Cumberland Island, Georgia, this district combines two building groups, three archeological sites and an archeological zone. Half Moon Bluff grew from a tract divided into 42 lots in the early 1890s and sold to Black residents, many of them former slaves. A log church and school was built in 1893, and the present First African Baptist Church dates to 1937. Nearby cemeteries hold members of the founding families. To the south, High Point began about 1880 as a hotel and cottage resort reached by a mule-drawn tramway from Cumberland Wharf. It later served as a hunting and fishing club and then became the Candler family estate, with a New House added in 1940. Shell middens on Terrapin Point reflect long aboriginal use, and tradition places Fort St. Andrews, founded in 1736 under Oglethorpe, there. Together the sites illustrate post-Civil War Black settlement, island leisure and colonial defense.
Significance in brief: The district shows the path of freed slaves from squatters to landowners at Half Moon Bluff, and the resort-to-private-estate story of High Point. It may also hold the site of Fort St. Andrews (1736) and the village of Barrimackie, and its shell-midden sites offer research potential on the island's aboriginal occupants.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 78000265, listed December 22, 1978. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | NE of St. Marys on Cumberland Island, St. Marys |
|---|---|
| County | Camden County |
| Listed | December 22, 1978 |
| Reference number | 78000265 |
| Resource type | District |
| Architectural style | Vernacular coastal wood-frame architecture |
| Areas of significance | Prehistoric, Community Planning and Development, Historic - Aboriginal, Religion, Social History |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Half Moon Bluff buildings are mostly in fair to good condition, though all are altered. The High Point hotel is altered but in good condition. Cumberland Wharf is in ruins and lies outside the district. |
| Acreage | 700 |
| Coordinates | 30.92862, -81.43546 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 78000265.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q38251531
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.