How many times have we heard that infamous phrase? And how many times has history proven that this concept is simple, yet hard to achieve? In the case of Jekyll Island and its foray into the “year-round resort” market, it actually worked but only with the help of some “heavenly,” read “State” intervention.

When the new Authority took control of the island’s day-to-day management in 1957, and all previous board members were replaced with State-elected officials*, B.E. Thrasher took the lead in materializing the historic sentence of “build it and they will come.”

B.E. Thrasher was Georgia State Auditor at the time and had previously acted in an advisory capacity to the first Jekyll Island Authority. In 1957 however, he became a board member, although probably not by his own choosing.

After having witnessed the reluctance of private developers to invest in hotel/motel properties on the island, and be the first ones to begin construction, he firmly believed that the Authority should lead the way and finance the first island motel. The problem was that the Authority did not have a budget to spearhead such a risky undertaking, nor did the state have an appetite to finance such an endeavor.

There was however this fairly new State Pension Plan, better known as the Georgia Teachers Retirement System, founded in 1945 with the amendments to the State Constitution in that same year, that could be interested in such a finance opportunity. After all, Mr. Thrasher was also a board member of the pension plan in his capacity as State Auditor, so bringing both borrower and lender together seemed like the natural thing to do.

In 1957, Coastal Estates began construction of what would become Jekyll Island’s first motel; Jekyll Estates. The original twenty units were completely financed by the Georgia Teachers Retirement System at a cost of $100,000.

It was considered a very risky investment, but ultimately the old adage came true. That same year, the Seaside Investment Co. began construction of “Georgia’s largest resort motel” the Wanderer. With 96 oceanfront units, just south the new Jekyll Estates, this hotel cost $704,000 and again was completely financed by the Georgia Teachers Retirement System at a rate of 6% per annum. Not a bad return on investment if all goes well.

For the next two years, the state pension plan would continue to finance the construction of hotels and motels on the island, which begs the eternal question of whether B.E. Thrasher’s innovative financing approach really worked.

The answer is, yes it did.

After the first motels were constructed and potential investors recognized the success of those early motels, they did come and invest with the help of underwriters and financiers.

While for some it may still be questionable whether this was indeed good practice, or whether a state pension plan should have invested in high-risk opportunities, the answer is to be found in the middle.

It is obvious from archived records that the plan did work out for everyone involved, including the Georgia Teachers Retirement System that recuperated all its capital and interest. It also catapulted Jekyll Island State Park into the “Year-round Resort” market and rang in the beginning of a successful and prosperous three decades.

Would the future of the island have looked different without this initial risky investment? Absolutely!

Would it have been better or less turbulent? Who knows.

What is certain is that Jekyll Island was able to invent and create a unique hybrid model of existence that is not and probably will never be successfully replicated ever again.

The island is now home to daily visitors and vacationers, taking advantage of the hotel/motel structures that find their roots in humble and early beginnings of 1957, a well-protected and preserved State Park, and a permanent community of residents that are living in perfect symbiosis with both sides of the island.

In the end, without the Georgia Teachers Retirement System, none or little of what we enjoy today may exist.

For more information about the history of Jekyll Island, feel free to click here.

Enjoy, and until next time….

*February 20, 1957 (JIA Museum archives).