Jekyll Island: Playground of the Priviledged

At home on Jekyl Island. How do you like my charming cottage?

 

 

Jekyll Island is an island off the coast of the Georgia; it is one of the Sea Islands and one of the Golden Isles of Georgia.  The historic district consists of a number of buildings from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The island is also full of wildlife.

The State of Georgia owns the island now, 7 miles x 1.5 miles wide. Georgia bought the island from the descendants of the 19th century Jekyll Island Club. The island is self-supporting.

There were only a few of us riding the tram on this cold but sunny day, with a knowledgeable guide who took us inside two of the "cottages".

Du Bignon had inherited the southern third of the island from his father and 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 sell the island as a winter retreat for the wealthy came to fruition on February 17, 1886, and the clubhouse was completed in January 1888. Fifty-three members purchased shares for $600 each, and a limit of 100 members was imposed to preserve the club's exclusivity.

From 1888–1942 the club opened every January, except a few because of yellow fever outbreaks, to accommodate 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 more esteemed members built mansion-sized cottages that still stand in excellent condition today.

Some of the wealthy men of the Jekyll Island Club were Henry Hyde, Marshall Field, John Pierpont Morgan, Joseph Pulitzer, and William H. Vanderbilt. (Thank you, Wikipedia, for your help.)

Here is your guest cottage, in case you should stop by.

With wonderful, towering oaks all over the place and a garden ears staff, living here must have been like being in a big park with all your pals living nearby.

There are miles of bike trails. I hope to come back to this place one day.

Outside the Rockefeller porch is this little put-put car used by the family to get around.

Mrs. Rockefeller's beloved red carpet.

This is Mrs. Rockefeller's guest for tea on the front porch, just a century late to the party.

Protected from commercial development, the beaches go on and on and on . . . .

Resilient trees hold up through storms and hurricanes.

The families of the original club members often dined together in the Club dining room. This is the menu for a dinner held on Washington's Day. Anyone for Jekyll oysters on the half shell?