After Gen. James E, Oglethorpe founded Savannah in 1733, he developed several outposts to protect his settlement from Spanish Florida. All have disappeared except for Thunderbolt, GA in Chatham County, a small town located on a bluff overlooking the Intercoastal Waterway at the Wilmington River. Legend holds that the town got its name from “a rock which was here shattered by a thunderbolt, causing a spring to gush from the ground, which continued ever afterward to emit the odor of brimstone.” It has been a river resort for over 200 years with fishing and scrimping serving as principal vocations for much of that time. Today it remains a small coastal town with new homes and modern developments and access to the Intercoastal Waterways.

One of its most notable attractions is the Bonaventure Cemetery, which sparked national interest due to its appearance in the film “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil”.