Jekyll Island has a rich history as one of Georgia’s barrier islands. It is probably remembered best in connection with the founding of the 13th Colony in 1733 when Major Horton, second in command to Gen. Oglethorpe, settled on the island and supplied the troops of Fort Frederica (Saint Simons Island). Others may know the island’s more recent history from the Jekyll Island Club, founded by America’s wealthiest in 1886, who called the island their own private winter retreat until 1942.

No part of its history is more intriguing and fascinating than its birth as a state park, or more importantly, its “gestation period”. Let’s rewind our time clock back and picture what Georgia looked like in 1945.

WWII has come to an end, our soldiers are coming home, and the era of Liberty Ships, built-in Brunswick, abruptly halts. The state of Georgia is primarily viewed by many as a “backward tobacco state” through which many Northeasterners travel at least twice a year to and from their winter vacation in Daytona Beach.

If Gov. Ellis Arnall gets his way, this impression of his beloved state is about to change. He envisions to capture at least some of the annual “snowbirds” and entice them to make a pit stop somewhere along their journey by creating a state park. He appoints a committee, chaired by his protege Melvin Thompson, to search for the perfect barrier island that can be purchased through condemnation proceedings, better known today as “eminent domain”.

In 1947, and under the direction of then Gov. M.E. Thompson, the state of Georgia purchases Jekyll Island from its sole owner, the Jekyll Island Club.

Although the island officially opens to the public in March 1948, capturing the desired “snowbirds” will take several more years. That does not stop the state to start extensive roadworks that will ultimately give access to the newly founded state park.

From 1948 to 1950, the state of Georgia together with the US Department of Public Works invests $4 million to reroute US-17, also known as Ocean Highway, and to build a new causeway that leads to Jekyll Island.

It will take another 4 years until the Jekyll Creek bridge is finished and finally connect Jekyll Island to the mainland. In the meantime, visitors can hop on a ferry in Brunswick and make the short voyage aboard the Robert E. Lee steamer to the new state park. There certainly was no shortage of interest as more than 400 curious and anxious Georgians visited the island for the first July 4th celebration.

And what a celebration it must have been while lodging and dining in the Jekyll Island Club Hotel or one of the millionaires’ “cottages”. The island truly transformed itself “From Millionaires to Commoners“.

Join me again next week when I give you a glimpse of what vacationing on Jekyll Island was all about in those early years.

Interested in my previous blog, click here.

Until next time. Enjoy!!!