Pronounced "Day-rien" with a long "a," not "Dare-ien" County Seat of McIntosh County Notable Natural Feature The Altamaha River and its estuary at Altamaha Sound In History In 1736, a band of Highland Scots recruited in the vicinity of Inverness Scotland, working on orders from Georgia founder James Oglethorpe, established a military outpost at Barnwell's Bluff at the mouth of the Altamaha River, which they named Darien, in memory of the ill-fated expedition by their countrymen to the Isthmus of Darien in Panama in 1697 Famous Sons and Daughters Fanny Kemble Butler, English actress married to Pierce Butler and author of Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation In Literature Melissa Fay Greene told the remarkable story of Darien in her book Praying for Sheetrock Don't Miss Fort King George Nearby Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation, the best example of a rice plantation in Georgia