The site consists of 822 acres (3.33 km2) protecting part of what was once the Wormsloe Plantation, a large estate established by one of Georgia's colonial founders, Noble Jones (c. 1700-1775).

The site includes a picturesque 1.5 miles (2.4 km) oak avenue, the ruins of Jones' fortified house built of tabby,[2] a museum, and a demonstration area interpreting colonial daily life.

Jones subsequently developed Wormsloe into a small plantation, and his descendants built a large mansion at the site which they used as a country residence.

The Isle of Hope is an island (or peninsula, depending on marsh water levels) situated approximately 11 miles (18 km) southeast of downtown Savannah in Georgia's Lower Coastal Plain region.

Native Americans have probably inhabited the Isle of Hope on at least a semi-annual basis for thousands of years, as indicated by oyster shell deposits excavated in the vicinity.

James Oglethorpe, the leader of these English colonists, maintained a friendly relationship with the Yamacraw chief Tomochichi, and managed to peacefully acquire the Savannah area and the lands in its vicinity.

[4] Throughout the late 17th-century, Spain (which had established itself in Florida in the previous century) retained loose control over the Georgia coast via Native American allies.

While Spain still claimed the coast and islands, the area was largely abandoned, creating a buffer zone between Spanish Florida and the English Carolinas.

[8] Noble Jones' fortified house was one of several defensive works built between Frederica on Saint Simons Island and the Savannah townsite.

Jones took part in an English raid along the St. Johns River in northern Florida in 1740, as well as the successful defense of Frederica at the Battle of Bloody Marsh in 1742.

[10] The practice of slavery had been banned by Georgia's original charter, so Noble Jones used indentured servant labor to tend Wormsloe in the plantation's early years.

While Wormsloe never proved profitable, Jones managed to amass real estate wealth throughout his lifetime, including 5,500 acres (22 km2) and five town lots in the Savannah area.

Noble Wimberly led the Georgia Commons House in its rejection of the Townshend Acts in 1768, and took part in a mission that seized a large supply of gunpowder from the provincial powder magazine in 1776.

He continued his father's contributions to history and tradition, publishing several works for the Georgia Historical Society and establishing Wormsloe's library.

[16] In 1930 after the stock market crash, Elfrida De Renne Barrow (1884–1970) assumed her brother Wymberly's debts, and eventually made the plantation her official residence.

Barrow created the Wormsloe Foundation, which continued and expanded the family tradition of publishing works related to Georgia history.

The state-controlled area includes the scenic oak-lined avenue, a museum, and a walking trail that leads through the dense maritime forest to the ruins of the tabby fort built by Jones in 1745.