Shell Bluff on the Savannah River, 15 miles northeast, has been famous since Indian days for its outcrops of fossil shells, including those of giant oysters. These shells came from the Eocene sea that covered this part of Georgia some 50 million years ago. Many famous travelers and geologists visited Shell Bluff, including Bartram in 1791, Vanuxem in 1828, Conrad in 1834, and Sir Charles Lyell in 1842.