summer cottages were being constructed on the south end of the island, and a small village was forming to serve them. Construction of the pier in 1887 brought visitors by boat from Brunswick and south Georgia. The Hotel St. Simons, on the present site of Massengale Park, opened in 1888. About a decade later, two hotels were built near the pier. The arrival of the automobile and the opening of the Torras Causeway in 1924 insured the continued growth of tourism on St. Simons, the only one of the Golden Isles not privately held. New hotels were built. Roads were constructed, and tourism became the dominant force in the Island's economy. On April 8, 1942, World War II became a reality to residents of St. Simons Island, when a German U-boat sank two oil tankers in the middle of the night. The blasts shattered windows as far away as Brunswick, and unsubstantiated rumors spread about German soldiers landing on the beaches. Security measures were tightened after the sinkings, and anti-submarine patrols from Glynco Naval Air Station in Brunswick ultimately ended the U-boat threat. During the war, McKinnon Airport became Naval Air Station St. Simons, home to the Navy Radar Training School. The King and Prince Hotel, built in 1941, was used as a training facility and radar station. It was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2005. President Jimmy Carter visited the island with his brother Billy Carter in 1977, arriving by Marine One. During the postwar years, as resort and vacation travel increased, permanent residential development began to take place on St. Simons Island as well as surrounding mainland communities. The island's population grew from 1,706 in 1950 to 13,381 by 2000. Geography St. Simons Island is part of a cluster of barrier islands and marsh hammocks between the Altamaha River delta to the north, and St. Simons Sound to the south. Sea Island forms the eastern edge of this cluster, with Little St. Simons on the north, and the marshes of Glynn plus the Intracoastal Waterway to the west. St. Simons is located at (31.161250, -81.386875), midway between Savannah, Georgia and Jacksonville, Florida, and approximately east of Brunswick, Georgia, the sole municipality in Glynn County and the county government seat. Climate The Köppen Climate Classification System rates the climate of St. Simons Island as humid subtropical. Ocean breezes tend to moderate the island climate,