The picture to the left-bottom is of our campground entrance. The two building photos are different views of the Jekyll Island Club Hotel, built in 1882. The gargoyles are on the nondenominational church, which also had front and rear Tiffany windows.
Cotton was king on Jekyll Island, but the Civil War’s end sent it in a rapid decline. The island then progressed through several owners until purchased by a consortium of very rich people (Rockefeller, Pulitzer, Crane, Vail, Koehler, Morgan, Gould, etc.) who founded the Jekyll Island Club. They built large but not particularly ostentatious homes, a grand club now a hotel, and common facilities such as an infirmary, nondenominational church, and wharf. It was a place of relaxation and an opportunity to escape the winters back home, and spend quality time with their families and wealthy contemporaries.
Membership declined during the depression and the club shut down in 1942 as servants were drafted into the military. It never reopened and was eventually seized by the state of Georgia for nonpayment of property taxes.
Today it is a state park with a campground on one end, miles of beaches, 22 miles of bike trails, the historical area, the Sea Turtle Center, the original Jekyll Island Hotel, additional hotels, and about a thousand private residences that look about 1960s vintage – an attempt by the state to capture some more revenues.
I do not know how the state garners enough revenues to cover the costs of all this – the concept is somewhat like a large Asilomar but with many high maintenance buildings generating little or no revenue.
Our campground seems large and our rigs are well scattered, making socializing a little more difficult. But the grounds are nice, with many trees.
This morning we were taken on a trolley tour of the island, including the historical area. We had access to the Rockefeller vacation home, which has a large walk-in safe in the livingroom. No credit cards in those days, just bearer bonds for these guys. SS She got a far better bathtub.
In the afternoon Marcia and I bicycled with Ed and Susan maybe 12 miles of the island and had a very fine dinner at Latitude 31, a small seafood restaurant on the Club’s old wharf. In Club days the wharf was the only island access – now there is a bridge.
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