Jekyll Island
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Jekyll Island is located off the coast of the
U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
of
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
, in Glynn County. It is one of the
Sea Islands The Sea Islands are a chain of tidal and barrier islands on the Atlantic Ocean coast of the Southeastern United States. Numbering over 100, they are located between the mouths of the Santee and St. Johns Rivers along the coast of South Caroli ...
and one of the
Golden Isles of Georgia The Golden Isles of Georgia consist of barrier islands, and the mainland port cities of Brunswick and Darien, on the 100-mile-long coast of the U.S. state of Georgia on the Atlantic Ocean. They include St. Simons Island, Sea Island, Jekyll Is ...
barrier island Barrier islands are coastal landforms and a type of dune system that are exceptionally flat or lumpy areas of sand that form by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a ...
s. The island is owned by the State of Georgia and run by a self-sustaining, self-governing body.Jekyll Island Authority
/ref> It was long used seasonally by indigenous peoples of the region. The
Guale Guale was a historic Native American chiefdom of Mississippian culture peoples located 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 1 ...
and the
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. Thei ...
, the indigenous peoples of the area when Europeans first reached the area, were killed or forced to leave by the English of the
Province of Carolina Province of Carolina was a province of England (1663–1707) and Great Britain (1707–1712) that existed in North America and the Caribbean from 1663 until partitioned into North and South on January 24, 1712. It is part of present-day Alabam ...
and their native allies, and by raids by French pirates. Plantations were developed on the island during the British colonial period. A few structures still standing are made of
tabby A tabby is any domestic cat (''Felis catus'') with a distinctive 'M'-shaped marking on its forehead; stripes by its eyes and across its cheeks, along its back, and around its legs and tail; and (differing by tabby type), characteristic striped, d ...
, a coastal building material of crushed oyster shells. The island was developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was evacuated during World War II by order of the US government. In 1947 the state of Georgia acquired all the property, for security and preservation. A popular
tourist destination A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural ...
, the island has beaches frequented by vacationers. Guided tours of the
Landmark A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible from long distances. In modern use, the term can also be applied to smaller structures or f ...
Historic District are available. Bike trails, walks along the beaches and sandbars, and Summer Waves, a
water park A water park (or waterpark, water world) is an amusement park that features water play areas such as swimming pools, water slides, splash pads, water playgrounds, and lazy rivers, as well as areas for floating, bathing, swimming, and other bare ...
, are among the active attractions. The historic district features numerous impressive and ambitious buildings from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The island is also full of
wildlife Wildlife refers to undomesticated animal species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous to game: those birds and mammals that were hunted ...
, consisting of many different mammals, reptiles, and birds living and breeding in the island's inland
salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is domin ...
es. In 2018, ''Architectural Digest'' named Jekyll Island one of the 50 most beautiful small towns in America. The island was listed as a
census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, suc ...
prior to the 2020 census with a population of 866.


Physical setting

Jekyll Island is one of only four Georgia barrier islands that has a paved
causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet Tr ...
to allow access from the mainland by car. It has of land, including of solid earth and a
Jekyll Island Club The Jekyll Island Club was a private club on Jekyll Island, on Georgia's Atlantic coast. It was founded in 1886 when members of an incorporated hunting and recreational club purchased the island for $125,000 (about $3.1 million in 2017) from John ...
Historic District. The rest is tidal
marshlands A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...
, mostly on the island's western shore. The island measures about long by wide, has of wide, flat beaches on its east shore with sand packed hard enough for easy walking or biking, and boasts of hiking trails. Like the other Golden Isles, Jekyll is mostly made of older
Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...
land mass and smaller sections of younger
Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togeth ...
land. The climate is
humid subtropical A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...
, with rainfall concentrated in the hottest months.


Northern end of the Island

The north end of the island is the main area that has been affected by human development over the past few hundred years. Early settlers and the loggers who came afterwards developed plantations in this area. They used fallen trees for the construction of ships. In the early 20th century, much of what was considered wilderness was developed into golf courses.


Clam Creek Picnic Area

A short winding road leads to a parking lot and one of the three picnic areas on the island. To the west is a vast
marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found ...
hammock A hammock (from Spanish , borrowed from Taíno and Arawak ) is a sling made of fabric, rope, or netting, suspended between two or more points, used for swinging, sleeping, or resting. It normally consists of one or more cloth panels, or a wo ...
and a view of the
Sidney Lanier Bridge The Sidney Lanier Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge that spans the Brunswick River in Brunswick, Georgia, carrying four lanes of U.S. Route 17. The current bridge was built as a replacement to the original vertical-lift bridge, which was twice ...
, a -tall cable-stay bridge on Hwy 17. A large fishing pier extends northwest from the picnic area. To the east, a bridge crosses Clam Creek, in front of an inland marsh, to connect the picnic area to the North End Beach and Driftwood Beach. These beaches are characterized by another tidal creek emptying into St. Simons Sound and a boneyard of pine and water oak tree roots.


Horton House

The two-story house built from
tabby A tabby is any domestic cat (''Felis catus'') with a distinctive 'M'-shaped marking on its forehead; stripes by its eyes and across its cheeks, along its back, and around its legs and tail; and (differing by tabby type), characteristic striped, d ...
in 1742 stands along N. Riverview Rd. The frame is intact, while the roof, doors, and windows are gone. Tabby was an indigenous material developed along the coast that was formed from crushed oyster shells, lime and water to make a kind of cement. It is featured in several historic sea island structures dating from the antebellum plantation era. The house was occupied by Major William Horton during the British colonial period. He developed Georgia's first brewery (the ruins of which are a few hundred yards down the road). The remains of the house have been meticulously preserved over the past 100 years as an example of coastal Georgia building techniques; it is one of the oldest surviving buildings in the state. Across the street from the Horton House ruin is the du Bignon cemetery, established by the next family to own the house and much of the island for generations. Its tabby wall surrounds the graves of five people who died in the 19th century.


Campground

Just across the street from the entrance to the Clam Creek picnic area is the campground, an facility in a cleared maritime forest. The campground has running water for restrooms, showers, and laundry, as well as a store and bike rentals.


Southern end

The southern end of the island was virtually unused by settlers and visitors until the late 19th century, when the army installed a gun mount on the southern end during the
Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...
. The installation looked over St. Andrews Sound toward Little Cumberland. In the second half of the 20th century, homes and motels were built by the Jekyll Island Authority along the northern beaches of the island. The multiple parallel dunes on the southernmost tip are a result of sand from the eroding north beaches traveling southward and being deposited in a recurved spit.


South Dunes picnic area

This picnic area on the ocean side of the island features plenty of picnic tables, a full bathroom with showers, and a boardwalk to traverse the -high dune ridge to the beach. The dune is needed to protect the wooded area and interior of the island from erosion due to storms. This area was repaired in 1983, with bulldozers pushing new primary dunes into place to correct the damage caused by 30 years of beachgoers trampling over the enormous dunes to the beach.


Glory Beach

Access to this beach is by way of a long boardwalk. It was built in the mid-1980s by the producers of the film '' Glory,'' which was partially filmed here, and has been named for the film. The boardwalk, recently repaired, can be accessed from the soccer complex at the south end of the Jekyll Island. The boardwalk passes through a variety of natural habitats, ranging from ancient dunes to freshwater sloughs.


St. Andrews picnic area

St. Andrews is a picnic area on the intercoastal side of the island, facing the marsh and mainland. It is the farthest point on the beach from Clam Creek. This beach is very popular with fishing birds.
Dolphins A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (t ...
frequently feed here and travel through the area; they are visible when surfacing for air. In 2008, the Jekyll Island History Museum, the Jekyll Island Authority, and the Friends of Historic Jekyll Island commemorated the survivors of the slave ship '' The Wanderer'', the next to last ship documented to transport slaves to US territory in the prohibited Atlantic slave trade.Joye Brown, "The Wanderer"
''Newsday'', 12 May 2009, accessed 12 May 2009
'' Clotilda'', out of
Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 census. It is the fourth-most-populous city in Alabama ...
, brought in 110 slaves in July 1860, and is ranked last. Because the ship was burned and sunk, some observers thought accounts of its slave voyage was a hoax, but there is considerable documentation. In January 2018 a reporter announced finding wreckage in mud in the Mobile River, which a team of archeologists had affirmed may be the ruins of the ''Clotilda''. The ''Wanderer'' was built in Setauket, New York as a pleasure boat, but it was acquired by Southerners who opposed the prohibition on the Atlantic slave trade. Dan Chapman, "Slave ship's voyage of shame recalled"
''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'', 23 Nov 2009, accessed 12 May 2009
They had it converted in the Congo and Angola to carry slaves, and the captain purchased more than 500 to take to the US. After a six-week voyage in which more than 100 slaves died, on November 28, 1858, ''The Wanderer'' anchored near the southern portion of Jekyll Island. Its crew took 409 to 465 enslaved Africans ashore, smuggling them to the mainland. News of the slave ship set off a wave of outrage. The federal government's effort to prosecute the conspirators was unsuccessful. A public art sculpture was commissioned for this site. It is a -tall steel sculpture of ship sails, intended to signify the harsh, hard nature of slavery.


Jekyll Island Club Historic District

In the midsection of the intercoastal side of the island is a designated Historic District. This includes most of the buildings erected during the
Jekyll Island Club The Jekyll Island Club was a private club on Jekyll Island, on Georgia's Atlantic coast. It was founded in 1886 when members of an incorporated hunting and recreational club purchased the island for $125,000 (about $3.1 million in 2017) from John ...
era. They have been carefully preserved. The centerpiece of the grounds is the large Jekyll Island Club Hotel, a two-winged structure that contains numerous suites for rental. The presidential suite contains the three-story
turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * M ...
on the front of the building. Thirty-three buildings from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries surround the hotel; many are the elaborate mansion-sized "cottages" built by the rich. Some cottages offer rooms for rent for temporary stays. Others have been adapted for use as museums, art galleries, or bookstores. The hotel is listed in the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
. The historic district itself has been listed as a National Historic Landmark District since 1978. Tram tours originate from the Jekyll Island Museum located on Stable Road directly across from the historic district. They run several times daily and guides describe much of the history of this area.


History

In the mid-2nd millennium, the island now known as Jekyll was near the border between the
Guale Guale was a historic Native American chiefdom of Mississippian culture peoples located 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 1 ...
people and the
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. Thei ...
people. Historians have debated whether the town of Guadalquini was on Jekyll Island or St. Simon's Island, and whether the people that lived there late in the 16th century were Guale or Mocama. By early in the 17th century Guadalquini was occupied by the Mocama. Both the Guale and the Mocama became part of the Spanish mission system. In the late 17th century the Guale and the Mocama were driven out of what is now Georgia by attacks from French pirates and from native allies of the English in the
Province of Carolina Province of Carolina was a province of England (1663–1707) and Great Britain (1707–1712) that existed in North America and the Caribbean from 1663 until partitioned into North and South on January 24, 1712. It is part of present-day Alabam ...
. The survivors resettled in what is now Florida. The men used spears to take fish from the surrounding creeks. The women were experts on the native vegetation, gathering nuts and fruit. They made a type of tea from parched
holly ''Ilex'' (), or holly, is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen o ...
leaves. These settlers were said to also have cultivated the three sisters: squash and pumpkins, beans, and corn (maize); as well as sunflowers and
tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
, which was used for many ritual purposes and celebrations.


Arrival of Europeans

In 1510 explorers from
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...
were the first to land at Jekyll Island, naming it ''Isla De Ballenas'' (Whale Island). Later
Juan Ponce de León Juan Ponce de León (, , , ; 1474 – July 1521) was a Spanish explorer and ''conquistador'' known for leading the first official European expedition to Florida and for serving as the first governor of Puerto Rico. He was born in Santerv ...
was appointed as the civil governor of this and Spain's other claimed North American territories. In 1562 French explorer
Jean Ribault Jean Ribault (also spelled ''Ribaut'') (1520 – October 12, 1565) was a French naval officer, navigator, and a colonizer of what would become the southeastern United States. He was a major figure in the French attempts to colonize Florida. A ...
claimed the island for France and renamed it as ''Ille de la Somme.'' Ribault later surrendered to the Spanish and was executed. The two countries engaged in competition and armed confrontations along the Georgia and Florida coasts. After his army swiftly defeated the French,
Philip II of Spain Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September 1598), also known as Philip the Prudent ( es, Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from ...
immediately had a colony established on Jekyll. More brief conflicts between these two countries along the coastline followed. Spanish priests established missions intending to convert Native Americans to Christianity. No mission is known to have been established on Jekyll; however, the Spanish influenced the island from their mission on
St. Simons Island St. Simons Island (or simply St. Simons) is a barrier island and census-designated place (CDP) located on St. Simons Island in Glynn County, Georgia, United States. The names of the community and the island are interchangeable, known simply as ...
. After the Westo invasion on the mainland, they began destroying the missions and slaying the Spanish priests, traveling south along the coast. They spared Father Xander Davilla on Jekyll, keeping him as a slave. (He was later released to the Spanish in a prisoner exchange). In 1663–65, England established grants to land stretching southward from their Jamestown colony to an area below
St. Augustine, Florida St. Augustine ( ; es, San Agustín ) is a city in the Southeastern United States and the county seat of St. Johns County on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorers, it is the oldest continuously inhabi ...
. The English allied with the
Cherokee people The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, th ...
,
Creek people The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language), are a group of related indigenous (Native American) peoples of the Southeastern WoodlandsYuchi The Yuchi people, also spelled Euchee and Uchee, are a Native American tribe based in Oklahoma. In the 16th century, Yuchi people lived in the eastern Tennessee River valley in Tennessee. In the late 17th century, they moved south to Alabama, G ...
tribes. They armed the warriors, ordering them to raid the Spanish and Muskogean settlements on Jekyll in 1681–83. By 1702, the English had driven the Spanish from the entire area.


English occupation

General
James Oglethorpe James Edward Oglethorpe (22 December 1696 – 30 June 1785) was a British soldier, Member of Parliament, and philanthropist, as well as the founder of the colony of Georgia in what was then British America. As a social reformer, he hoped to r ...
established Georgia as a colony in 1733. He renamed the island in honor of his friend,
Joseph Jekyll Sir Joseph Jekyll (166319 August 1738), of Westminster, was a British barrister, judge and Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons for 40 years from 1697 to 1738. He became Master of the Rolls in 1717. Early li ...
who had contributed £600 towards the founding of the colony. For many years, including the "Club Era", the island was spelled as "Jekyl". The Georgia legislature in 1929 passed legislation to correct the spelling to "Jekyll", as used by the former sponsor of the colony. In the late 1730s, General Oglethorpe appointed William Horton to set up a military post in the area to protect
Fort Frederica A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
on St Simon's Island. By 1738 Horton had set up permanent residence on Jekyll Island, near what is now called DuBignon Creek. At his residence, Horton established a
plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Th ...
that was able to supply the population at Frederica with beef and corn; he depended on the labor of enslaved African Americans. Horton continued to develop his property on Jekyll. In 1742 his house was destroyed during Spanish attacks, but he had it rebuilt. He developed the cultivation of new experimental crops on his plantation, including
barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley p ...
and
indigo Indigo is a deep color close to the color wheel blue (a primary color in the RGB color space), as well as to some variants of ultramarine, based on the ancient dye of the same name. The word "indigo" comes from the Latin word ''indicum'', ...
. Horton had his house and outbuildings reconstructed after the attacks using the indigenous material,
tabby A tabby is any domestic cat (''Felis catus'') with a distinctive 'M'-shaped marking on its forehead; stripes by its eyes and across its cheeks, along its back, and around its legs and tail; and (differing by tabby type), characteristic striped, d ...
. A mixture of lime, crushed oyster shells, and water, this strong building material has withstood the test of time throughout the Sea Islands. The external structure of William Horton’s two-story house, built from tabby, is one of two remaining two-story colonial-era structures in the state of Georgia. William Horton died in 1748–1749. His property on Jekyll passed through many hands until, just before the year 1800, Christophe du Bignon acquired all of the property of the island.


Plantation era

Christophe du Bignon and his family arrived here from France in 1792 as refugees from the violence of the
French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...
against the elite. Du Bignon developed a prosperous plantation, based on African
slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
, which he introduced to the island. After he died in 1825, his son Henri Charles Du Bignon inherited the property. Under the new ownership of Henri Charles the plantation continued to prosper, as evidenced by the 1850 census. On November 28, 1858, fifty years after the importation of slaves to the United States was prohibited, the ship ''The Wanderer'' landed on Jekyll Island with 465 slaves. This was the next-to-last successful shipment of slaves to American soil from
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
. By 1860, the plantations on Jekyll had declined in productivity, as the markets had changed and the soil became exhausted. By 1862 when
Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...
troops arrived, the Du Bignon plantation was completely deserted. After the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...
ended, the Du Bignon family returned to the island. Henri Charles divided the island among his four children. In 1875 John Eugene Du Bignon, a nephew, became owner of property on the island. He inherited the southern third of the island from his father and intended to build a house.


The Jekyll Island Club

Du Bignon purchased the rest of the island from his siblings, with the help of his brother-in-law Newton Finney and an investor. Their plan to market the island as a winter retreat for the wealthy came to fruition on February 17, 1886. They decided to construct a clubhouse which was completed in January 1888. Fifty-three members purchased shares for $600 each; a limit of 100 members was imposed to preserve the club's exclusivity. From 1888 to 1942 the club opened every January for the winter season, except a few years when there were yellow fever outbreaks. It accommodated some of the world's wealthiest people. Members and their families enjoyed activities such as biking, hunting, horseback riding, and tennis, and frequented the north beaches. Some of the wealthiest members built their own "cottages", mansion-sized residences that are mostly still standing in the 21st century. Even the wealthy endured financial losses during the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, and the club had financial difficulties. When the United States entered
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, it ordered the island evacuated for security purposes, ending the era of the Jekyll Island Club. After the war in 1947, the State of Georgia bought the island.


Planning of the Federal Reserve System

At the end of November 1910, Senator Nelson W. Aldrich and Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury Department A. Piatt Andrew, and five of the country's leading financiers ( Frank Vanderlip, Henry P. Davison,
Benjamin Strong Benjamin Strong Jr. (December 22, 1872 – October 16, 1928) was an American banker. He served as Governor of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for 14 years until his death. He exerted great influence over the policy and actions of the entire F ...
, and
Paul Warburg Paul Moritz Warburg (August 10, 1868 – January 24, 1932) was a German-born American investment banker who served as the 2nd Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve from 1916 to 1918. Prior to his term as vice chairman, Warburg appointed as a member o ...
) arrived at the
Jekyll Island Club The Jekyll Island Club was a private club on Jekyll Island, on Georgia's Atlantic coast. It was founded in 1886 when members of an incorporated hunting and recreational club purchased the island for $125,000 (about $3.1 million in 2017) from John ...
to conduct a secret meeting to plan the country's monetary policy and banking system, formulating during the meeting the
Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States of America. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a ...
as America's next
central bank A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the currency and monetary policy of a country or monetary union, and oversees their commercial banking system. In contrast to a commercial bank, a centra ...
. According to th
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
the 1910 Jekyll Island meeting resulted in draft legislation for the creation of a U.S.
central bank A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the currency and monetary policy of a country or monetary union, and oversees their commercial banking system. In contrast to a commercial bank, a centra ...
. Parts of this draft (the Aldrich plan) were incorporated into the 1913
Federal Reserve Act The Federal Reserve Act was passed by the 63rd United States Congress and signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on December 23, 1913. The law created the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States. The Pani ...
.


Development of the Jekyll Island Authority

Under the administration of Governor Melvin E. Thompson, the state of Georgia gained control of Jekyll Island on October 6, 1947, for $675,000. The island was initially managed as part of the
State Park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...
system. However, by 1950, as costs associated with getting the island ready for tourists began to mount, the island was taken out of the state park system. It was organized as a separate authority with the goal of its becoming self-sustaining, considered achievable because of its resources and attractions. The Jekyll Island Authority was created in February 1950 under the direction of Governor
Herman Talmadge Herman Eugene Talmadge (August 9, 1913 – March 21, 2002) was an American politician who served as governor of Georgia in 1947 and from 1948 to 1955 and as a U.S. Senator from Georgia from 1957 to 1981. Talmadge, a Democrat, served during a t ...
. It was designed to be a governing board. This board consisted of nine gubernatorial appointed members and was charged with the operation and care of the island. Black residents of Brunswick petitioned the state for access‚ and in 1950‚ a portion of southern Jekyll‚ renamed St. Andrews Beach‚ was designated for blacks‚ becoming the first public beach in Georgia accessible to African Americans. Five years later‚ the state erected the “Colored Beach House,” which now stands as a historic landmark at Camp Jekyll. The authority placed a convict camp on the island in 1951. In an extension of the lease-convict system, compared to slavery in its abuses, the mostly African-American prisoners performed the manual labor needed to prepare the island for public use. They planted landscaping for drainage, dug and built the foundations of motels and neighborhoods, and built the perimeter road. From September 1951 to December 1954, the island was primarily closed to the public. Upon completion of the six-year causeway project and erection of the drawbridge on December 11, 1954, Jekyll Island officially re-opened for public use. The Authority was criticized and received negative publicity in the mid-1950s. The Georgia Legislature restructured the Authority in 1957, requiring board members to be elected officials. The state attorney general, state auditor, public service commissioner, state parks department director, and secretary of state were all made board members. In the next decade, the Authority directed development of motels, houses, the convention center, and a shopping center, as well as the towers at the entrance to the causeway. In the 1970s the Authority began renovating the historic cottages and club hotel in the historic district. During the 1980s, it supervised the construction of bike paths and the re-opening of the clubhouse in December 1987. The legislature reorganized the board membership in the 1970s and 1980s. Now it consists of the Commissioner of the
Georgia Department of Natural Resources The Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is an administrative agency of the U.S. state of Georgia. The agency has statewide responsibilities for managing and conserving Georgia’s natural, cultural, and historical resources, and has fiv ...
and eight citizens of the state. Some of the later construction projects have included the
Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
Complex, the Jekyll Island Tennis Center, gaining Historic District status and designation as a
National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...
in 1978, and opening the Jekyll Island 4-H Center in 1983. Most recently, the Authority completed the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. The Georgia Sea Turtle Center aims to rehabilitate and return to nature cold stunned and other wounded turtles, the primary species impacted by cold stunning is the critically endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtle. Due to an increasing number of competitive sites, the island had suffered declining numbers of visitors since the late 20th century. In 2006, the Authority planned to revitalize the island. In 2007 it selected Linger Longer Communities LLC (through a competitive process) as its private partner to redevelop a portion of the Island. After a year of planning and hosting public forums throughout the state of Georgia, the Authority and Linger Longer developed a revitalization plan. It includes a renovated Convention Center, with construction of a
mixed-use Mixed-use is a kind of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning type that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions are to som ...
public Beach Village to increase the number and variety of attractions nearby. These will be oriented to pedestrian uses: an area for new retail shops and a public beach-side promenade. By legislative mandate, sixty-five percent of the island is and will remain in a mostly natural state (including parks and picnic areas). A once-per-day toll has been charged for several decades to enter Jekyll Island. In 1985 the daily rate was $1, it was $5, and later raised to $8, with an annual pass at $55. Also an annual pass may be purchased at the Guest Information Center before entering the island. Georgia Sea Turtle Center building.jpg, Georgia Sea Turtle Center Jekyll Island Guest Information Center.jpg, Guest Information Center


Demographics


2020 census

''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.''


Use as a filming location

Scenes from the
film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...
s '' X-Men: First Class'', '' Glory'', '' The Legend Of Bagger Vance'', ''Jekyll Island'', and '' The View from Pompey's Head'' have been filmed on Jekyll Island. On October 27, 2014, Red Zone Pictures filmed here for '' Magic Mike XXL'' (2015), starring
Channing Tatum Channing Matthew Tatum (born April 26, 1980) is an American actor. Tatum made his film debut in the drama ''Coach Carter'' (2005), and had his breakthrough role in the 2006 dance film '' Step Up''. He gained wider attention for his leading rol ...
. In 2016, an episode for '' The Walking Dead'' Season 7 was filmed on the island, as well as part of an episode in season 10 in 2019. The musical version of ''
The Color Purple ''The Color Purple'' is a 1982 epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker which won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction.
'' (2023) shot several scenes on Driftwood Beach in March 2022.


See also

*
Charles Alling Gifford *
List of Georgia state parks This is a list of state parks in Georgia. The park system of the US state of Georgia was founded in 1931 with Indian Springs State Park and Vogel State Park. Indian Springs has been operated by the state as a public park since 1825, making it ...


References


Research and further reading

* * Condominium Hotel & Conference Center, Jekyll Island, GA se
www.villasbythesearesort.com

''Jekyll Island Photo and Information Booklet''
Jekyll Island Museum & Jekyll Island Authority * * McCash, June Hall. ''The Jekyll Island Cottage Colony''. University of Georgia Press. 1998. . * McCash, William Barton and June Hall McCash. ''The Jekyll Island Club: Southern Haven for America's Millionaires''. University of Georgia Press. 1989.
The Jekyll Island Museum and archives
Jekyll Island, Georgia * *Doms, Nick (2019). ''From Millionaires to Commoners. The History of Jekyll Island State Park''. AuthorHouse. 2019


External links


Jekyll Island entry
in the
New Georgia Encyclopedia The ''New Georgia Encyclopedia'' (NGE) is a web-based encyclopedia containing over 2,000 articles about the state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is a program of Georgia Humanities (GH), in partnership with the University of Georgia Press, t ...

Jekyll Island Foundation

Coastal Georgia in Photos

Jekyll Island Official Home Page

World Database on Protected Areas - Jekyll Island

Website to save Jekyll Island

Current news articles on development of Jekyll Island
from blogspot.com
M.E. Thompson and the Purchase of Jekyll Island
historical marker * {{authority control Barrier islands of Georgia (U.S. state) Protected areas of Glynn County, Georgia History of the Federal Reserve System Georgia (U.S. state) Sea Islands Islands of Glynn County, Georgia Islands of Georgia (U.S. state)