x
| After WWII,
fears mounted at the state legislature that Jekyll and its nine sister islands might
eventually be consumed by private development. To protect public access to its coastline,
the state decided to acquire one of the islands. Jekyll Island was finally chosen
primarily because it was the one island entirely under single ownership. |
In preparation for Jekyll’s new role as Georgia’s oceanside playground, a causeway was extended across the Marshes of Glynn
in 1954 and a lift bridge set into place where the causeway crossed the Intercoastal
Waterway. (This landmark was replaced in 1997 by a skyway.) Jekyll Island was subdivided into 586 lots for residences and hotels. The
state secured prime lots for the A.J. Hartley Auditorium, a theatre and a public pool. All
the lots have since been developed and a small retail core has evolved at an impromptu ‘downtown’ core near the
auditorium. |
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| The island park
that so many visit today, almost wasn’t. The robber barons balked on a selling price
so, to gain the upper hand, the state threatened to condemn the club’s docks.
Unaccustomed to being challenged, the club members regrouped and, after assessing the cost
of getting Jekyll’s harbour facilities up to modern codes, the club agreed to a
$675,000 settlement. With inflation factored, the club’s astute business elite took a
loss on their original purchase price, but after all the good years of relaxed social
climbing were considered, the island had paid for itself many times over. In 1947, Jekyll Island was
transferred to the State of Georgia. The home of America’s most powerful men now
contains 1,500 motel rooms and a resident population of 800.
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