Altamaha

Course

The Altamaha River originates at the confluence of the Oconee and Ocmulgee Rivers, near Lumber City. At its source, the river forms the border between Jeff Davis County to the south and Montgomery County to the north.

It is reportedly the third-largest contributor of fresh water to the Atlantic Ocean from North America. Including its longest tributary (the Ocmulgee) in length calculations, as is standard USGS practice, its length of 470 miles (760 km) places it seventh on the list of U.S. rivers entirely within one state, behind only four Alaskan rivers, the Sacramento-Pit River in California, and the Trinity River in Texas. The beginning of the Colorado River of Texas is just within New Mexico.

History

According to the USGS, variant and historical names of the Altamaha River include A-lot-amaha, Alatahama, Alatamaha, Allamah, Frederica River, Rio Al Tama, Rio de Talaje, and Talaxe River.

In prehistoric times, the Timucua people occupied northern Florida and a portion of Georgia reaching as far north as the Altamaha River. The Utinahica tribe lived along the river and the Spanish mission of Santa Isabel de Utinahica was established around 1610 near the source of the Altamaha. Along the coast of Spanish Florida, the Altamaha River marked the boundary between the Guale and Mocama missionary provinces.

Fort Caroline, built by the French in 1564 and probably the oldest European fortified settlement in North America, was likely constructed near the mouth of the Altamaha River.

Natural history

Although used in the 19th century as a route for commerce between central Georgia and the Atlantic coast, the 137-mile river is nearly entirely still in its natural state, was designated a bioreserve in 1991, and one of the 75 “Last Great Places” in the world, by The Nature Conservancy.

The Altamaha River is crossed by roads just five times and flows undammed through a flood plain up to five miles (8.0 km) wide, consisting of river-cut cliffs, cordgrass marshland, and some of the last remaining hardwood bottomlands and old-growth cypress swamps in the American South. As the river approaches the Atlantic Ocean, it becomes a broad estuary.