In 1927, Colonel Tillinghast L. Huston bought Butler Island, south of Darien, Georgia, at a sheriff’s sale and began construction of a residence there. A New Yorker, Huston was co-owner of the New York Yankees baseball team from 1915 to 1923. At Butler Island, Huston transformed the former rice plantation into a successful dairy farm stocked with purebred Guernsey cattle. Supplying both local and East Coast markets, the dairy produced milk, cottage cheese, and ice cream. At the same time, the farm produced and shipped crops of vegetables and fruits, such as iceberg lettuce, satsuma oranges, and lemons.
Brunswick Pilot
Butler Island Farm c.1939
The high standards of the Butler Island Dairy were recognized in 1932 when it was approved as a supplier of vitamin D fortified milk. During the first decades of the 20th century, the disease caused by vitamin D deficiency, known as rickets, became a major threat to the wellbeing of children throughout America. Although vitamin D can be produced naturally by exposure to sunlight, as the nation became more industrialized and urban, children spent less time outdoors. According to a Brunswick Pilot article on the topic, dated July 8, 1932, even in areas with abundant sunshine, “ten to twenty percent of all babies show traces of rickets.”
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin discovered that yeast irradiated with ultraviolet light had greater vitamin D potency. When cows were fed this yeast, the vitamin was incorporated into their milk without affecting the taste or appearance. The Pilot article noted that only highly efficient dairies such as the one at Butler Island were awarded licenses to use the process. Subsequent advertisements for Butler Island Dairies referred to the milk as “Bottled Sunlight,” noting that each quart contained as much vitamin D as three teaspoons of cod liver oil.
Colonel Huston died at Butler Island in 1938. The dairy operations eventually ceased, but the farm continued to grow lettuce, beans, cauliflower, cabbage, and other produce. The Huston estate sold Butler Island and the adjacent Champney Island to R. J. Reynolds, Jr. in 1949. Reynolds sold the property to the state of Georgia in 1954.
Library of Congress
Capt. T.L. Huston
Shown here is an aerial of the Butler Island Farm from the 1939 Brunswick Pilot supplement preserved in the Coastal Georgia Historical Society archives. Also shown is a photograph of Colonel Huston, courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Coastal Georgia Historical Society presents this article and images from our archives as part of our mission “to connect people to Coastal Georgia’s dynamic history.” The Society operates the iconic St. Simons Lighthouse Museum and the World War II Home Front Museum, housed in the Historic Coast Guard Station at East Beach. To learn more about the Society, its museums, diverse programs, and membership, please visit coastalgeorgiahistory.org.
