After the philanthropist James Oglethorpe founded the colony of Georgia in 1733, to provide a place where poor debtors could settle, colonists from England and Scotland, and refugees from the German Electorate of the Palatinate built Fort Frederica in 1736 to defend their new territory.

In the 1742 battles of Bloody Marsh and Gully Hole Creek, forces under Oglethorpe successfully repulsed Spanish attempts to invade St. Simons Island.

[7] Fort Frederica was documented and authorized as a National Monument on May 26, 1936, under the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration during the Great Depression.

[8] During this period, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) sponsored numerous surveys of historic areas and buildings across the country to identify, document and protect the resources for the future, as well as to provide employment.

By correlating the archaeological data with the historic documents and excavating remains of structures, the archaeologists have provided important insight into Frederica's past and colonial history, a complex time of international rivalries.