St. Mary's Submarine Museum, Georgia

A small, dense, and homegrown museum, housing the history of military submarining, especially related to Kings Bay, the sub base located at the north end of town. The museum has artifacts such as control panels from relatively recent nuclear subs, sub models, paintings of subs, and a working periscope which pokes out of its roof, offering views of Florida on the opposite bank of the St. Marys River. Across the street from the museum is the dock where boats depart to take people to Cumberland Island, the southernmost island along Georgia’s lost coast. Cumberland was saved from development (part of the story is covered in John McPhee’s book, Encounters with the Archdruid). Ruins of a Carnegie family mansion remain on site.