Tybee Island
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Tybee Island, Georgia Tybrisa |
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|---|---|
| City | |
 Location in Chatham County and the state of Georgia |
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| Coordinates: 32°0′24″N 80°50′58″W / 32.00667°N 80.84944°WCoordinates: 32°0′24″N 80°50′58″W / 32.00667°N 80.84944°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Georgia |
| County | Chatham |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Jason Buelterman |
| Area | |
| • Total | 3.2 sq mi (8.3 km2) |
| • Land | 2.3 sq mi (6.0 km2) |
| • Water | 0.9 sq mi (2.3 km2) |
| Elevation | 10 ft (3 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 2,990 |
| • Density | 1,283/sq mi (495.2/km2) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP code | 31328 |
| Area code(s) | 912 |
| FIPS code | 13-78036 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0333294 |
| Website | www |
Tybee Island is a barrier island in Chatham County, Georgia, near Savannah, United States. The name Tybee Island is also used for the city located on part of this island.
The island is the easternmost point in Georgia. The famous phrase "From Rabun Gap to Tybee Light," intended to illustrate the geographic diversity of Georgia, contrasts a mountain pass near the state's northernmost point with the coastal island's famous lighthouse.
As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 2,990. The entire island is a part of the Savannah Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Officially renamed "Savannah Beach" in a publicity move at the end of the 1950s, the city of Tybee Island has since reverted to its original name. (The name "Savannah Beach" nevertheless appears on official state maps as far back as 1952 and as recently as the mid-1970s.) The small island, which has long been a quiet getaway for the residents of Savannah, has become a popular vacation spot with tourists from outside the Savannah metropolitan area. Tybee Island is home to the first of what would eventually become the Days Inn chain of hotels, the oft-photographed Tybee Island Light Station, and the Fort Screven Historic District.
It is one of the few locations where the U.S. Air Force dropped an atomic bomb—by accident (during a botched 1958 military training exercise). Though the "Tybee Bomb" did not detonate (and, according to some reports, was not armed with a fuse), there has been ongoing concern, since the Mark 15 nuclear bomb lost during the mishap was never found.
Native Americans, using dugout canoes to navigate the waterways, hunted and camped in Georgia's coastal islands for thousands of years. The Euchee tribe likely inhabited the island in the years preceding the arrival of the first Spanish explorers in the area in the 16th century. Tybee is the Euchee word for "salt".
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Wikipedia