Tybee Island, Georgia
Encyclopedia
Tybee Island is an island and city in Chatham County
, Georgia
near the city of Savannah
in the southeastern United States. It is the easternmost point in the state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 2,990. (The Georgia barrier island called Tybee includes the city of Tybee Island and has a total population of around 3,700. The entire island is a part of the Savannah Metropolitan Statistical Area
.)
Officially renamed "Savannah Beach" in a publicity move at the end of the 1950s, the city of Tybee Island has since reverted to its original name. (The name "Savannah Beach" nevertheless appears on official state maps as far back as 1952 and as recently as the mid-1970s). The small island, which has long been a quiet getaway for the residents of Savannah
, has become a popular vacation spot with tourists from outside the Savannah metropolitan area. Tybee Island is also home to the first of what became the Days Inn
chain of hotels, the oft-photographed Tybee Island Light Station
, and the Fort Screven Historic District.
Every year since 1987 Tybee Island has had an annual Beach Bum parade, traditionally held in May. The parade route comes down the main road in Tybee, Butler Avenue, and when parade floats come by onlookers have been known to shoot each other with water-guns.
, using dugout canoes to navigate the waterways, hunted and camped in Georgia's coastal islands for thousands of years. The Euchee tribe likely inhabited the island in the years preceding the arrival of the first Spanish explorers in the area in the 16th century. "Tybee" is the Euchee word for "salt."
In 1520, the Spanish laid claim to what is now Tybee Island and named it Los Bajos. It was at the northern end of the Guale
missionary province of Spanish Florida
. During that time the island was frequented by pirates who used the island to hide from those who pursued them. Pirates later used the island’s inland waterways for a fresh water source. After the founding of South Carolina
in 1670, warfare increased between the English and their pirate allies and the Spanish and their Native American allies. In 1702, James Moore
of South Carolina led an invasion of Spanish Florida with an Indian army and a fleet of pirates. The invasion failed to take the capital of Florida, St. Augustine
, but did destroy the Guale and Mocama
missionary provinces. After another invasion of Spanish Florida by South Carolina in 1704, the Spanish retreated to St. Augustine and Pensacola; the Sea Islands were depopulated, allowing the establishment of new English settlements such as the colony of Georgia. In 1733 English settlers led by James Oglethorpe
settled on Tybee Island before moving on to settle eventually in Savannah
.
and wood
, and stood 90 feet (27.4 m) tall, making it the highest structure in America at that time. The original lighthouse has been replaced several times. The second lighthouse was built in 1742 when beach erosion threatened the first. Part of the third lighthouse at the site, built in 1773, still stands as the bottom 60 feet (18.3 m) of the present lighthouse. The top 94 feet (28.7 m) of the current lighthouse were added in 1867.
Today, the Tybee Lighthouse is a popular tourist destination, having all of its support buildings on the 5 acres (20,234.3 m²) site historically preserved. The current black and white tower markings are a reversion to its fourth day mark, first used in 1916. The Tybee Island Light Station is one of just a handful of 18th century lighthouses still in operation in North America.
, the Union
Army placed siege batteries along the north coast of Tybee Island that aided in their successful bombardment and capture of Fort Pulaski on April 10–11, 1862. This was the first significant use of rifled cannon
s against masonry
fortifications and demonstrated that masonry fortifications were obsolete. Recently, the City of Tybee Island has taken action to commemorate Tybee's historic significance in the Civil War. In 2005, the city obtained a federal grant to acquire two tracts of land where Union soldiers launched their attack against Fort Pulaski.
George C. Marshall, later the architect of the Marshall Plan
that helped rebuild Western Europe after World War II
. Very little remains of the original fort due to redevelopment of the area for housing. One of the most important remaining structures is the Tybee Post Theater
which was constructed in 1930. It was one of the first theaters in Georgia to have sound features and was the highlight of recreational activities for the fort. Other remaining buildings include the recently restored guard house, the bakery (now a private home), and barracks (now apartments). The ruins of the beach fortifications are also extant, and of the six original batteries, Battery Garland (built in 1899) is accessible to the public. Battery Garland houses the Tybee Museum and several cannons and other military hardware are on display. Another remaining area is Officer's Row, an impressive group of original homes that had a sweeping an ocean view. One of these homes is now a bed and breakfast.
In the 1920s, U.S. Route 80
was completed, connecting Tybee Island via road with the mainland. The Tybrisa Pavilion became a popular stop for Big Band
tours, and development pushed toward the island's southern tip. By 1940, the island had four hotels, including the Desoto Hotel and Hotel Tybee, and numerous smaller lodges. The Tybrisa Pavilion burned in 1967, and was replaced by the Tybee Pier and Pavilion in 1996.
from Homestead Air Force Base, Florida jettisoned a nuclear weapon
(specifically, a Mark 15
hydrogen bomb) off the coast of Tybee Island while conducting training exercises with a USAF F-86 Sabrejet. The two aircraft collided, with the pilot of the fighter ejecting and the crew of the bomber making an emergency landing at nearby Hunter Air Force Base. The lost weapon, known popularly as the "Tybee Bomb
", remained a security concern for several years, although the Air Force claims the bomb lacks a nuclear capsule and does not pose a serious threat. In 2004, retired United States Air force Lieutenant Colonel Derek Duke took part in a private search for the bomb. According to an article in the Savannah Morning News, Duke concluded that there were “high levels of radiation and unusual magnetometer readings” at a specific point in Wassaw Sound, just off the Tybee coast. Duke concluded, from these readings, that the bomb might be present “at a point just off the southern tip of Little Tybee,” an undeveloped barrier island near Tybee Island. In response, the Air Force launched a nine-month search for the Tybee bomb in 2004. The search team specifically investigated the area of Wassaw Sound in which Duke had located high radiation levels. The Air Force reported to the media in 2005 that the source of the high radiation is likely to be monazite
, a sand which is naturally high in radiation. The Savannah Morning News headline ran “Duke Found Dirt.”
, which comprise the outer section of the state's Lower Coastal Plain region. Like the other Barrier Islands, Tybee consists of a sandy beach on its eastern shore and a tidal salt marsh
on its western shore. The interior consists of a maritime forest (the density of which has been reduced by development) and freshwater sloughs.
The Savannah River
empties into the Atlantic Ocean
just north of Tybee Island, placing the island in a historically strategic location. To the west, the marsh-lined Lazaretto Creek
splits the island off from McQueens Island (the two-mile (3 km) stretch between the main western shore of Tybee Island and Lazaretto Creek is mostly marshland). Tybee Creek flows along the south shore of Tybee Island and joins the Atlantic at the island's southeastern tip. Little Tybee Island, which consists mostly of protected wetlands, lies across Tybee Creek to the southwest. The size of the sandy beach at the southern tip of Tybee Island varies considerably in response to tidal changes.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the city has a total area of 2.674 miles (4.3 km). Of this, 2.5575 miles (4.1 km) is land and 0.1161 mile (0.186844374 km), or 4.344%, is water. The entire island (as distinguished from the city of the same name) has a land area of 21.871 mi2.
As of the census
of 2000, there were 3,392 people, 1,568 households, and 901 families residing in the city. The population density
was 1,326.3 people per square mile (511.6/km²). There were 2,696 housing units at an average density of 1,054.2 per square mile (406.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 95.93% White, 1.89% African American, 0.56% Native American, 0.85% Asian, 0.06% from other races
, and 0.71% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.27% of the population.
There were 1,568 households out of which 15.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.5% were married couples
living together, 7.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.5% were non-families. 33.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.07 and the average family size was 2.62.
In the city the population was spread out with 13.8% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 26.8% from 25 to 44, 35.5% from 45 to 64, and 18.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47 years. For every 100 females there were 93.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $49,741, and the median income for a family was $58,462. Males had a median income of $45,833 versus $30,694 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $32,406. About 5.3% of families and 10.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.2% of those under age 18 and 3.1% of those age 65 or over.
Chatham County, Georgia
Chatham County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. The county seat and largest city is Savannah. In the official US Census of 2010, Chatham County had a total population of 265,128 . Chatham is the most populous Georgia county outside the Atlanta metropolitan area...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
near the city of Savannah
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
in the southeastern United States. It is the easternmost point in the state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 2,990. (The Georgia barrier island called Tybee includes the city of Tybee Island and has a total population of around 3,700. The entire island is a part of the Savannah Metropolitan Statistical Area
Savannah metropolitan area
The Savannah Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of three counties in Georgia, anchored by the city of Savannah. As of the 2010 census, the Savannah MSA had a population of 347,611, an 18.6 percent increase from the 2000 population of ...
.)
Officially renamed "Savannah Beach" in a publicity move at the end of the 1950s, the city of Tybee Island has since reverted to its original name. (The name "Savannah Beach" nevertheless appears on official state maps as far back as 1952 and as recently as the mid-1970s). The small island, which has long been a quiet getaway for the residents of Savannah
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
, has become a popular vacation spot with tourists from outside the Savannah metropolitan area. Tybee Island is also home to the first of what became the Days Inn
Days Inn
Days Inn is a motel chain headquartered in the United States. Founded in 1970, it is now a part of the Wyndham Hotel Group, based in Parsippany, New Jersey, which was formerly a part of Cendant...
chain of hotels, the oft-photographed Tybee Island Light Station
Tybee Island Light Station
The Tybee Island Light, also known simply as the Tybee Lighthouse is located on Tybee Island, Georgia, east of Savannah at the mouth of the Savannah River...
, and the Fort Screven Historic District.
Every year since 1987 Tybee Island has had an annual Beach Bum parade, traditionally held in May. The parade route comes down the main road in Tybee, Butler Avenue, and when parade floats come by onlookers have been known to shoot each other with water-guns.
History
Native AmericansNative Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
, using dugout canoes to navigate the waterways, hunted and camped in Georgia's coastal islands for thousands of years. The Euchee tribe likely inhabited the island in the years preceding the arrival of the first Spanish explorers in the area in the 16th century. "Tybee" is the Euchee word for "salt."
In 1520, the Spanish laid claim to what is now Tybee Island and named it Los Bajos. It was at the northern end of the Guale
Guale
Guale was an historic Native American chiefdom along the coast of present-day Georgia and the Sea Islands. Spanish Florida established its Roman Catholic missionary system in the chiefdom in the late 16th century. During the late 17th century and early 18th century, Guale society was shattered...
missionary province of Spanish Florida
Spanish Florida
Spanish Florida refers to the Spanish territory of Florida, which formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and the Spanish Empire. Originally extending over what is now the southeastern United States, but with no defined boundaries, la Florida was a component of...
. During that time the island was frequented by pirates who used the island to hide from those who pursued them. Pirates later used the island’s inland waterways for a fresh water source. After the founding of South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
in 1670, warfare increased between the English and their pirate allies and the Spanish and their Native American allies. In 1702, James Moore
James Moore (South Carolina politician)
James Moore was the British governor of colonial South Carolina between 1700 and 1703. He is remembered for leading several invasions of Spanish Florida, including attacks in 1704 and 1706 which wiped out most of the Spanish missions in Florida....
of South Carolina led an invasion of Spanish Florida with an Indian army and a fleet of pirates. The invasion failed to take the capital of Florida, St. Augustine
St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine is a city in the northeast section of Florida and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer and admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, it is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city and port in the continental United...
, but did destroy the Guale and Mocama
Mocama
The Mocama were a Native American people who lived in the coastal areas of what are now northern Florida and southeastern Georgia. A Timucua group, they spoke the dialect known as Mocama, the best-attested dialect of the Timucua language. Their territory extended from about the Altamaha River in...
missionary provinces. After another invasion of Spanish Florida by South Carolina in 1704, the Spanish retreated to St. Augustine and Pensacola; the Sea Islands were depopulated, allowing the establishment of new English settlements such as the colony of Georgia. In 1733 English settlers led by James Oglethorpe
James Oglethorpe
James Edward Oglethorpe was a British general, member of Parliament, philanthropist, and founder of the colony of Georgia...
settled on Tybee Island before moving on to settle eventually in Savannah
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
.
Lighthouse
Tybee Island's strategic position near the mouth of the Savannah River has made the island's northern tip the ideal location for a lighthouse since Georgia's early settlement period. First built in the year 1736, the lighthouse was made of brickBrick
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
and wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
, and stood 90 feet (27.4 m) tall, making it the highest structure in America at that time. The original lighthouse has been replaced several times. The second lighthouse was built in 1742 when beach erosion threatened the first. Part of the third lighthouse at the site, built in 1773, still stands as the bottom 60 feet (18.3 m) of the present lighthouse. The top 94 feet (28.7 m) of the current lighthouse were added in 1867.
Today, the Tybee Lighthouse is a popular tourist destination, having all of its support buildings on the 5 acres (20,234.3 m²) site historically preserved. The current black and white tower markings are a reversion to its fourth day mark, first used in 1916. The Tybee Island Light Station is one of just a handful of 18th century lighthouses still in operation in North America.
Tybee Island in the Civil War
During the American Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, the Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
Army placed siege batteries along the north coast of Tybee Island that aided in their successful bombardment and capture of Fort Pulaski on April 10–11, 1862. This was the first significant use of rifled cannon
Cannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
s against masonry
Masonry
Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...
fortifications and demonstrated that masonry fortifications were obsolete. Recently, the City of Tybee Island has taken action to commemorate Tybee's historic significance in the Civil War. In 2005, the city obtained a federal grant to acquire two tracts of land where Union soldiers launched their attack against Fort Pulaski.
Fort Screven historic district
Fort Screven was first commissioned in 1899 and was named for Brigadier General James Screven, a Revolutionary War hero who was killed in action near Midway, Georgia, in 1778. The Fort served as a valuable part of coastal defense until it was decommissioned in 1947. Fort Screven is most notable for one of its former commanding officers, General of the ArmyGeneral of the Army
General of the Army is a military rank used in some countries to denote a senior military leader, usually a General in command of a nation's Army. It may also be the title given to a General who commands an Army in the field....
George C. Marshall, later the architect of the Marshall Plan
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was the large-scale American program to aid Europe where the United States gave monetary support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II in order to combat the spread of Soviet communism. The plan was in operation for four years beginning in April 1948...
that helped rebuild Western Europe after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Very little remains of the original fort due to redevelopment of the area for housing. One of the most important remaining structures is the Tybee Post Theater
Tybee Post Theater
Tybee Post Theater is a movie theatre located on Tybee Island, Georgia, United States.-History:The Post Theater was constructed in 1930. After being silent for 40 years, live performances began again in 2010. The Tybee Post Theater is one of the few building used by the U.S. Army during its...
which was constructed in 1930. It was one of the first theaters in Georgia to have sound features and was the highlight of recreational activities for the fort. Other remaining buildings include the recently restored guard house, the bakery (now a private home), and barracks (now apartments). The ruins of the beach fortifications are also extant, and of the six original batteries, Battery Garland (built in 1899) is accessible to the public. Battery Garland houses the Tybee Museum and several cannons and other military hardware are on display. Another remaining area is Officer's Row, an impressive group of original homes that had a sweeping an ocean view. One of these homes is now a bed and breakfast.
The resort period
In the late 19th century, at the height of the Industrial Revolution, residents in large, polluted cities frequently sought out remote beaches for summertime getaways. Clear, saltwater breezes were believed to be remedies for various ailments, including asthma and certain allergies. Steamships began carrying patients and tourists to Tybee Island just after the Civil War. In 1887, the Central of Georgia Railroad completed a line to Tybee Island, opening the island to a wave of summer tourists. The railroad built the Tybrisa Pavilion in 1891, and by the end of the decade, several hundred summer cottages dotted the island.In the 1920s, U.S. Route 80
U.S. Route 80
U.S. Route 80 is an east–west United States highway, much of which was once part of the early auto trail known as the Dixie Overland Highway. As the "0" in the route number indicates, it was originally a cross-country route, from the Atlantic to the Pacific...
was completed, connecting Tybee Island via road with the mainland. The Tybrisa Pavilion became a popular stop for Big Band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
tours, and development pushed toward the island's southern tip. By 1940, the island had four hotels, including the Desoto Hotel and Hotel Tybee, and numerous smaller lodges. The Tybrisa Pavilion burned in 1967, and was replaced by the Tybee Pier and Pavilion in 1996.
The Tybee Bomb
On February 5, 1958, a U.S. Air Force B-47 StratojetB-47 Stratojet
The Boeing Model 450 B-47 Stratojet was a long-range, six-engined, jet-powered medium bomber built to fly at high subsonic speeds and at high altitudes. It was primarily designed to drop nuclear bombs on the Soviet Union...
from Homestead Air Force Base, Florida jettisoned a nuclear weapon
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
(specifically, a Mark 15
Mark 15 nuclear bomb
The Mark 15 nuclear bomb, or Mk-15, was a 1950s American thermonuclear bomb, the first relatively lightweight thermonuclear bomb created by the United States....
hydrogen bomb) off the coast of Tybee Island while conducting training exercises with a USAF F-86 Sabrejet. The two aircraft collided, with the pilot of the fighter ejecting and the crew of the bomber making an emergency landing at nearby Hunter Air Force Base. The lost weapon, known popularly as the "Tybee Bomb
Tybee Bomb
The Tybee Island B-47 crash was an incident on February 5, 1958, in which the United States Air Force lost a Mark 15 hydrogen bomb in the waters off Tybee Island near Savannah, Georgia, USA. During a practice exercise the B-47 bomber carrying it collided in midair with an F-86 fighter plane. To...
", remained a security concern for several years, although the Air Force claims the bomb lacks a nuclear capsule and does not pose a serious threat. In 2004, retired United States Air force Lieutenant Colonel Derek Duke took part in a private search for the bomb. According to an article in the Savannah Morning News, Duke concluded that there were “high levels of radiation and unusual magnetometer readings” at a specific point in Wassaw Sound, just off the Tybee coast. Duke concluded, from these readings, that the bomb might be present “at a point just off the southern tip of Little Tybee,” an undeveloped barrier island near Tybee Island. In response, the Air Force launched a nine-month search for the Tybee bomb in 2004. The search team specifically investigated the area of Wassaw Sound in which Duke had located high radiation levels. The Air Force reported to the media in 2005 that the source of the high radiation is likely to be monazite
Monazite
Monazite is a reddish-brown phosphate mineral containing rare earth metals. It occurs usually in small isolated crystals. There are actually at least four different kinds of monazite, depending on relative elemental composition of the mineral:...
, a sand which is naturally high in radiation. The Savannah Morning News headline ran “Duke Found Dirt.”
Geography
Tybee Island is located at 32°0′24"N 80°50′58"W (32.006672, -80.849374). The island is the northeastern-most of Georgia's Barrier IslandsSea Islands
The Sea Islands are a chain of tidal and barrier islands on the Atlantic Ocean coast of the United States. They number over 100, and are located between the mouths of the Santee and St. Johns Rivers along the coast of the U.S...
, which comprise the outer section of the state's Lower Coastal Plain region. Like the other Barrier Islands, Tybee consists of a sandy beach on its eastern shore and a tidal salt marsh
Salt marsh
A salt marsh is an environment in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and salt water or brackish water, it is dominated by dense stands of halophytic plants such as herbs, grasses, or low shrubs. These plants are terrestrial in origin and are essential to the stability of the salt marsh...
on its western shore. The interior consists of a maritime forest (the density of which has been reduced by development) and freshwater sloughs.
The Savannah River
Savannah River
The Savannah River is a major river in the southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of South Carolina and Georgia. Two tributaries of the Savannah, the Tugaloo River and the Chattooga River, form the northernmost part of the border...
empties into the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
just north of Tybee Island, placing the island in a historically strategic location. To the west, the marsh-lined Lazaretto Creek
Lazaretto Creek
Lazaretto Creek is a small creek in Chatham County, Georgia. It divides Tybee Island from McQueens Island.- History :Because of Gen. James E. Oglethorpe's opposition to the "peculiar" institution, Georgia's original charter had an antislavery provision...
splits the island off from McQueens Island (the two-mile (3 km) stretch between the main western shore of Tybee Island and Lazaretto Creek is mostly marshland). Tybee Creek flows along the south shore of Tybee Island and joins the Atlantic at the island's southeastern tip. Little Tybee Island, which consists mostly of protected wetlands, lies across Tybee Creek to the southwest. The size of the sandy beach at the southern tip of Tybee Island varies considerably in response to tidal changes.
According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 2.674 miles (4.3 km). Of this, 2.5575 miles (4.1 km) is land and 0.1161 mile (0.186844374 km), or 4.344%, is water. The entire island (as distinguished from the city of the same name) has a land area of 21.871 mi2.
Demographics
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 3,392 people, 1,568 households, and 901 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 1,326.3 people per square mile (511.6/km²). There were 2,696 housing units at an average density of 1,054.2 per square mile (406.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 95.93% White, 1.89% African American, 0.56% Native American, 0.85% Asian, 0.06% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 0.71% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.27% of the population.
There were 1,568 households out of which 15.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.5% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 7.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.5% were non-families. 33.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.07 and the average family size was 2.62.
In the city the population was spread out with 13.8% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 26.8% from 25 to 44, 35.5% from 45 to 64, and 18.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47 years. For every 100 females there were 93.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $49,741, and the median income for a family was $58,462. Males had a median income of $45,833 versus $30,694 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $32,406. About 5.3% of families and 10.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.2% of those under age 18 and 3.1% of those age 65 or over.
External links
- City of Tybee Island website
- TybeeVisit.com, official site of Tybee Island Tourism Council
- Tybee Island Online
- Tybee Island newspaper
- Tybee Island Light Station
- Tybee Island Marine Science Center