Jekyll Island Club Resort

The Jekyll Island Club was a private club on Jekyll Island, on Georgia’s Atlantic coast. It was founded in 1886 when members of an incorporated hunting and recreational club purchased the island for $125,000 (about $3. 1 million in 2017) from John Eugene du Bignon. The original design of the Jekyll Island Clubhouse, with its signature turret, was completed in January 1888. The club thrived through the early 20th century; its members came from many of the world’s wealthiest families, most notably the Morgans, Rockefellers, and Vanderbilts. The club closed at the end of the 1942 season due to complications from World War II.

In 1947, after five years of funding a staff to keep up the lawn and cottages, the island was purchased from the club’s remaining members for $675,000 (about $7. 4 million in 2017) during condemnation proceedings by the state of Georgia. The state tried operating the club as a resort, but this was not financially successful, and the entire complex was closed by 1971.

The complex was designated a historic landmark in 1978.

It was restored and reopened as a luxury resort hotel in 1985. Today, Jekyll Island Club Hotel is a member of Historic Hotels of America, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.