Jekyll Island - Historic Sites and Points of Interest

There can be little doubt that Jekyll Island on Georgia's Atlantic Coast is one of the most charming and historic spots in the South.

The Guale Indians were living here when the Spanish first arrived in North America during the 1500s. Missions were established in the area and for many years the Golden Isles of Georgia were considered a Spanish possession.

That changed in 1736, when General James Oglethorpe arrived across the channel on St. Simons Island to establish Fort Frederica and Fort St. Simons. One of the general's top officers, Major William Horton, was granted 500 acres on Jekyll Island and in 1736 he became the island's first recorded permanent inhabitant.

Horton built a two-story fortified home on the northern end of Jekyll Island, cleared the first road across the island and opened fields for farming. He also operated a brewery which supplied beer for the troops occupying the coastal islnds. Horton's house was burned by the Spanish in 1742, but its stout tabby walls remained and the structure was rebuilt.

In the years that followed, Jekyll Island was the location of plantations and a Confederate artillery battery. After the Civil War, however, the entire island was acquired by a group of the wealthiest and most powerful individuals in the world. The Jekyll Island Club, as their private organization was known, began with 53 member-investors. Among them were J.P. Morgan, Joseph Pulitzer, Marshall Field and William K. Vanderbilt.

The clubhouse on the island opened its doors in 1888 and millionaires flocked to the island to build magnificent winter cottages. For nearly fifty years, Jekyll Island would be a seat of power unlike any in America. It was from meetings here that the idea for forming the Federal Reserve grew and it was from Jekyll Island that the president of AT&T placed the first transcontinental telephone call in 1915.

Jekyll Island today is owned by the State of Georgia and is a popular destination for visitors from around the world. To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/jekyllisland.

Georgia Sea Turtle Center - Jekyll Island, Georgia

Sea turtles, some of which grow to lengths of more than 6 feet, have long been fixtures of the Georgia coast.

Prehistoric Native Americans made use of these large turtles as food and early European settlers were also known to cook one up now and then as well. It was not until 20th century development and other impacts set in, however, that Georgia's population of sea turtles was threatened.

There are five different species of sea turtles in Georgia and all are now protected by both state and federal law. They are a unique and special part of not only the cultural, but the natural history of Georgia.

One of the most unique places to learn about and actually see them is the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island. Located in the beautiful Jekyll Island Historic District, the center offers an interpretive center featuring interactive exhibits about sea turtles, but even more importantly serves to rescue and rehabilitate injured or sick sea turtles from all along the coastal islands.

Guides take visitors on tours of the hospital area, where they can see the staff working to heal and help sometimes very large sea turtles. It is a unique experience and one that should definitely not be overlooked by visitors to the Georgia coast.

To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/jekyllturtles.

The Marshes of Glynn - Glynn County, Georgia

It is a little known fact that Georgia has (and protects) more salt marsh than any other state on the East Coast of the United States. Perhaps the best known of these grasslands are the Marshes of Glynn, which separate Jekyll, St. Simons and the other Golden Isles from the mainland of Georgia.

Vast seas of grass that team with life, the Marshes of Glynn are part of one of the most productive eco-systems in the world. They are the breeding grounds for Georgia shrimp, blue crab and oysters and also filter pollutants from water.

The marshes have long attracted the attention of mankind, but they owe their greatest fame to the poet Sidney Lanier. In 1878, he penned his beautiful poem "The Marshes of Glynn," a widely acclaimed work that provides one of the finest word pictures ever written of an American landscape.

The marshes can be seen from the causeways leading to both St. Simons Island and Jekyll Island. The overlook at the Jekyll Island Welcome Center provides a spectacular panoramic view of the marshes, and they can also be seen from many points along the interior coast of Jekyll Island. A particularly beautiful spot is on the grounds of the Horton House Historic Site.

To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/marshesofglynn.

Horton House Historic District - Jekyll Island, Georgia

The old Horton House on Jekyll Island has been one of my favorite historic sites since I first saw the picturesque ruins as a kid.

A relic of Georgia's Colonial past, the Horton House was built by Major William Horton in around 1740 as English settlement spread south through the Golden Isles following the establishment of Fort Frederica on nearby St. Simons Island by General James Oglethorpe. Horton was the major and second command of Oglethorpe's regiment and his settlement on the north end of Jekyll Island was a major part of Oglethorpe's plan for conquering the former Spanish territory along the Georgia coast.

The two-story house was extremely large for its day and was made of tabby, a concrete like material created by mixing equal parts of lime (made by burning oyster shells), sand, water and oyster shell. The fact that the walls still stand more than 270 years later reveals just how strong tabby was as a building material. In addition to the house, Horton built a barn and other structures, cleared fields and opened the first road across Jekyll Island.

The Spanish burned the Horton House during their raid on St. Simons and Jekyll Islands in 1742, but it was quickly rebuilt using the surviving stone walls. In fact, the house remained the centerpiece of an important plantation until the lands were sold to the Jekyll Island Club in 1886. The old walls witnessed not only the War of Jenkins Ear with the Spanish, but the American Revolution, War of 1812 and Civil War as well.

The house and grounds are today maintained as a historic site and feature not only the old ruins, but interpretive markers, the nearby DuBignon (du Bignon) cemetery and spectacular views of the famed Marshes of Glynn. To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/hortonhouse.