Sixteen years after the founding of Isle of Hope, cartographer William DeBrahm identified the settlements of “Cap: Jones” and “Henry Parker Esq: President” on his topographic map of the coast of Georgia. He did not identify Isle of Hope itself, only these two individual settlements. This was the first time any landmark on Isle of Hope had been identified on a map.
This map is a magnified view of the small portion of DeBrahm’s map that relates to Isle of Hope. DeBrahm’s entire map, entitled, “A Map of Savannah River Beginning at Stone-Bluff, or Nexttobethel, which Continueth to the Sea, also the Four Sounds Savannah, Hossabaw, and St. Katherines and their Islands”, depicts hundreds of miles, first along the Atlantic Ocean and then up the Savannah River border with South Carolina. This is one of DeBrahm’s earliest maps in colonial America. He would later become Surveyor General of Georgia and South Carolina and is considered one of the great mapmakers of the eighteenth century.
The detail relating to Wormsloe includes Noble Jones’ four bastion fort and his “garde haus” protecting the river route south of Savannah. Henry’s Parker’s home is also shown on northern Isle of Hope. The straight-line, clear-cut vistas between the two settlements, which were used for trails and signaling, are also shown. Color-coding identifies the island’s bluffs, marshes, pine barrens, and oak lands. (Special Thanks to Forrest Willoughby)