Native Americans, Guale Indians, Spanish, French, British, Oglethorpe, intrigue, romance, wealth, beauty, nationalism, industrialism, politics, agriculture, sports all common to the “Island of Whales.” Georgia’s first brewery, the first transcontinental telephone call, the beginning of the Federal Reserve System, the Academy Award-winning film Glory, Christophe Poulain DuBignon, Governor Melvin Thompson, The Legend of Bagger Vance, and J.P. Morgan offer additional clues to the identity of this Georgia island. One of Georgia’s 14 coastal barrier islands, Jekyll Island is owned by the State of Georgia. Purchased under a condemnation order in 1947 from the members of the Jekyll Island Club, the island cost just $675,000. Since that time, Jekyll has been operated under the auspices of the Jekyll Island State Park Authority.

Like most of Georgia’s barrier islands, Jekyll Island’s history includes occupation by Native Americans as far back as 2500 B.C. These natives were followed by Guale Indians, beginning around A.D. 1540. Spanish missions were established on Georgia’s barrier islands during the late 16th Century. The Spanish name for Jekyll was Isla de Ballenas, the “Island of Whales.” On old charts, St. Andrews Sound, the body of water between Jekyll Island and Little Cumberland Island, was called the Bay of Right.

This appellation was obviously a reference to the abundant North Atlantic Right Whales found in the area at that time. In 1736, William Horton, one of General James Oglethorpe’s original settlers of Fort Frederica o n St. Simons Island, was granted 500 acres of Jekyll Island, property on which he constructed the first brewery in the United States. Following Horton, who died in 1748, the island had a number of owners, including four Frenchmen, one of whom was Christophe Poulain DuBignon.

He was an agriculturalist, and for many years, Jekyll Island was his farm. Even though the import of slaves was banned in 1808, in 1858 the last cargo of 409 slaves was brought into the United States aboard the Wanderer through Jekyll Island. Perhaps the most interesting and exciting time on Jekyll was associated with the Jekyll Island Club. DuBignon, and his brother-inlaw, Newton Finney, founded the club primarily as a hunting retreat for wealthy northerners. J.P Morgan, Joseph Pulitzer, and William K. Vanderbilt were among the first members.

Since the Jekyll Island Club’s members were among the world’s greatest industrialists, Jekyll Island was the site of some phenomenal history. In 1910, secret meetings that led to the development of the Federal Reserve System were conducted there. In 1915, AT&T president Theodore Vail placed the first transcontinental telephone call from Jekyll Island.

And, of course, let us not forget the first American brewery! The Jekyll Island Club closed early during the 1942 season, never to reopen. What really caused the members of the Jekyll Island Club to leave Jekyll Island during World War II, never to return, is open to speculation. Was it the pressure of the war on their businesses and families or was it the rumor that a German submarine was submerged just offshore with an elite team of saboteurs poised to come ashore to capture, and hold as hostages, the wealthy members of the club. Read the William Diehl novel, 27, and see if that provides you any clues. And pay special attention to the National Forest Service Ranger in Aspen, Colorado, as depicted in that historical novel. Former Georgia State Representative Dean Auten met the love of his life, Elaine, on the steps of the Jekyll Island Club Hotel in 1957.

Originally from North Carolina, Dean was sent to Jekyll by an employment agency in Charlotte and hired for the job as Head Bellboy because he was not “local” and would not know the politicians who were “hosted” at the hotel.

Dean and Elaine met when he walked her to her car following her interview for a switchboard operator position. Elaine, a local girl, was smitten and thought, “I’d probably like for him to carry my luggage the rest of my life.”

Dean and Elaine both lived in the un-air-conditioned Sans Souci House. The boys lived on one side and the girls on the other. At night they would ride in a jeep with the ranger patrolling Jekyll’s beaches for poachers of sea turtle eggs. Elaine remembers watching politicians take furniture from the millionaire’s cottages. Dean graduated from Appalachian State and moved to Tallahassee where he worked as an accountant for a Holiday Inn while Elaine finished her degree at Florida State.

They were married in Brunswick in 1960. Dean’s been carrying Elaine’s luggage ever since. After the State of Georgia purchase, Jekyll Island has become a playground for Georgians as well as visitors from around the world.

At 5,700 acres, Jekyll is one of the smallest of Georgia’s major barrier islands. During the 70’s and 80’s, it was a premier destination for many of Georgia’s large conventions. A plan to resurrect and renovate the island’s hotels, and thus re-cultivate and develop convention business, is currently in process. Today, the “Island of Whales” continues to attract visitors as well as local residents for a number of leisure activities. The newly opened Georgia Sea Turtle Center is a must see. The island’s bicycle trails are among the best in Georgia. Millionaire’s Village offers visitors a glimpse into the bygone days of the Jekyll Island Club. Golf remains one of Jekyll Island’s most popular attractions. The former Ski Rixen pond has been stocked by the Department of Natural Resources and offers outstanding fishing from shore. Bird watchers love Jekyll because it offers some of the best shorebird viewing in the southeastern U.S. And the Jekyll Island Club, a restored historic structure from the ‘club’ days on Jekyll, is a nationally recognized, full service hotel. And the best news? The Sans Souci House is now air conditioned!