The Jekyll Island Club
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
JUNE 4, 2019 | If you are a native Georgian, let me suggest you almost have a duty to tell those who come here from other states about Georgia’s wonderful coastland, particularly about the gem on the Georgia coast, Jekyll Island. Actually, Georgia’s approximately 100 miles of coastland has many wonderful areas to visit, from Tybee Island on the north to almost-pristine Cumberland Island on the south.
Jekyll, with its eight miles of open white-sand flat beaches, is owned by the State of Georgia, with 65 percent of the island by law to remain unspoiled. There are no boardwalks or hawkers of trinkets, just open beaches.
Ask your neighbors if they have been to Jekyll. We suspect that more than 75 percent of those “from away” haven’t been to Jekyll Island. It’s their loss. Encourage them to go.
It’s about 300 miles from here. We take Interstate 75 to Macon, then 1-16 toward Savannah, turn on Georgia 57 southeasterly toward Reidsville, then to Jesup. Afterward you have the four lane U.S. 341 to Brunswick. Then head south on U.S. Highway 17. A six mile causeway leads you to Jekyll.
Some coastal states have built-up condos lining the ocean, with only glimpses of beaches and little access to the ocean. Not Jekyll. Most of the beach area is open. You park and walk to the beach, maybe 50 feet away.
There’re plenty of places to stay, from the new pricey Westin, to popular-price motels (two new), to lower priced older places, all facing the ocean. On the bay side of the island is the Jekyll Island Club Hotel. And there’s a story.
Prior to World War II, the Jekyll Island Club was THE place for our country’s millionaires. You name them, they were there: the Rockefellers, Morgans, Cranes, Du Bignon, etc. Starting in 1888, there were only 100 families as members. On 240 acres on the Intracoastal Waterway, they built elaborates “cottages,” which today we might call McMansions. Each “cottage” lacked one modern twist: a kitchen. That’s where the elaborate Victorian Jekyll Island Club came in: the wealthy all took their meals there. The only way to get to the island was by boat in those days, and these wealthy families boated or took a ferry from Brunswick to hobnob with themselves and a few servants.
Since 1942, the millionaire families haven’t been back. American intelligence during World War II worried about the concentration of all this wealth on the island, and the rich were evacuated. They haven’t returned.
M.E. Thompson was a former county school superintendent who became governor. His name is associated with the eventful “three governors” chapter in our state’s history. He came to office in 1946 when the courts declared him the governor after Gene Talmadge died before he could re-take his office for his fourth term. (Herman Talmadge and the sitting governor Ellis Arnall all claimed the seat, but the courts ruled Mr. Thompson could serve until the next General Election.) Thompson was the duly-elected lieutenant governor.
In perhaps the most distinctive land purchase in Georgia history, Thompson in 1947 bought the whole island for the state for the sum of…$675,000! That’s 5,543 acres of land! It opened to Georgians in 1947, and it is run by a State Authority, and essentially is a state park. What a bargain! Thank you, Governor Thompson.
Last weekend the Georgia Press Association again convened at Jekyll, bringing people from throughout the state. It was a great weekend at a great site.
Consider a trip to Jekyll…great any time of year. And tell your newcomer friends.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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