Jekyll Island Historic District

Monday 20 May
This morning we took a trolley tour of the Historic District. In 1886, Jekyll Island was purchased to become an exclusive winter retreat, known as the Jekyll Island Club, for the ultra rich and wealthy. Club members included such notable figures as J.P. Morgan, Joseph Pulitzer, William K. Vanderbilt, and Marshall Field, amongst others. The Jekyll Island Club was built as the island’s exclusive clubhouse and was the site of many elegant events, leisure activities such as croquet and tennis, and was also where the first transatlantic phone call took place.members of the Club built “cottages” for their families to enjoy while visiting the island, many of which have been carefully restored and are open for tours. The Club House is now an up market hotel, and a couple of the “cottages” are used as guest rooms.
The fear and uncertainty of World War and the Great Depression caused Jekyll Island Club members to abandon their beloved Georgia Island, and then in 1947 the state of Georgia stepped in and purchased the island and made it available for everyone. The trolley tour was most enjoyable and informative, and today’s tour stopped to visit the ground floor interior of Mistletoe Cottage (centre right). Lower left, and my thumbnail photo is Indian Mound Cottage, originally built by McKay, but significantly altered by William Rockefeller. Top left in my collage is DuBignon cottage. Lower right is Crane “Cottage”, built in 1917 by Richard Teller Crane Junior, the most expensive house ever built on Jekyll Island. This one is part of the resort, and a sought after venue for weddings. Another feature of the Historic District is Faith Chapel, see extra, built in 1904 for the members of the Club. The main stained glass window featured in the collage was installed in 1921, in memory of Frederick Bourne, President of the Singer Sewing machine Company. It was created by the Ecclesiastical Department of Tiffany Studios in New York, and the name Louis C. Tiffany NY is etched into the right panel.