The Jekyll Island Club

From its inception in 1886, the Jekyll Island Club included in its elite membership the nation's wealthiest families, among them the Rockefellers, Pulitzers, Vanderbilts, and Morgans. Far from the hectic northern cities where the members tended their fortunes, this private island refuge off Georgia's coast offered the wealthy a tranquil change of pace. Bringing together more than 240 fascinating photographs, Barton and June McCash trace the sixty-two-year history of this exclusive retreat whose members at one time were reputed to represent one-seventh of the nation's wealth. From the time of the club's opening, members came to Jekyll Island each winter to seek elegant leisure, arriving on yachts or in private train cars from New York, Boston, Chicago, and Philadelphia. Capturing the lives and amusements of the very wealthy, this evocative photographic history presents descriptions of elaborate costume balls and playful outdoor parties; the Rockefeller clan gathering at water's edge and J. P. Morgan lounging by the pool; Victor Astor's "patented beach boat" and the Goulds' private indoor tennis court; the Vanderbilts' yacht anchored offshore and the imposing "cottages" built by individual members. During their stays, members amused themselves in a variety of pursuits. In the 1890s they organized bicycling clubs and held races on the beach. Hunting was also for a time a favorite activity and the island was regularly stocked with imported wildlife--pheasant, quail, turkey, and bucks. By 1919, however, the game committee had dwindled to one member, and prime hunting grounds had been cleared for golf courses and tennis courts. The hub of the island's social life, however, was the clubhouse, where members gathered in formal attire to converse, while drinking fine wine and dining on freshly caught game and local delicacies. The seclusion that Jekyll Island offered was not impenetrable. On the day after Christmas in 1900, the country's fascination with technology could no longer be resisted, and the sound of a gasoline automobile disturbed the island's quiet glades for the first time. Despite the immense wealth of the club, it was not immune to the stock market crash of 1893 and the Panic of 1907. The club managed to survive World War I intact and enjoyed a "golden age" from 1919 to 1927, during which time it held its own against the increasingly popular Florida resorts. The stock market crash of 1929, however, initiated a death spiral. Membership declined steadily throughout the 1930s, and when the United States entered World War II, the club closed its doors forever. Based on surviving club records, newspaper accounts, and letters and diaries of members and guests, The Jekyll Island Club chronicles an era when leisure was the preserve of the wealthy. For more than six decades the island, now a state park, served as a haven for millionaires. As one visitor described the Jekyll Island Club, it was "the only place of its kind in the world--and will never be again."

Author Hutto presents the quintessential stories of America's oldest money. Readers will meet Joseph Pulitzer, J.P. Morgan, Vanderbilt, and other members in the parlors of the Jekyll Island Club, a pristine Georgia retreat.

Many are wondering if the "richest of the rich can literally get away with murder" as local sheriff John Le Brun investigates the shooting death of one of the members of the exclusive club which includies the Vanderbilts, Goulds, Rockefellers, Morgans, and Pulitzers.

In the late nineteenth century, some of the wealthiest families in America joined together to form the Jekyll Island Club. The Club operated for 54 years, from 1888 until 1942, and attracted an elite membership. The families of Cyrus McCormick, J.P. Morgan, Joseph Pulitzer, and William Vanderbilt were among those who enjoyed the leisurely pace and recreational adventure of the Georgia coast. The Jekyll Island Club includes images of the architecture, clothing, transportation, and natural beauty unique to the island. This exquisite collection is sure to rekindle awe and wonder in the hearts of those who have visited the island, and will serve as a wonderful introduction for newcomers. The Jekyll Island Club is a fascinating look at a bygone period.

Since the 1940s, Jekyll Island has gone through a transformation from an exclusive private club where America's wealthiest families vacationed to a state-owned resort enjoyed by thousands of visitors each year. The changes that came to Jekyll brought both disappointments and triumphs, and involved people from all walks of life--the former employees of the Jekyll Island Club who remained after its closing in 1942, the military servicemen who were stationed on the island in the early 1940s, the legislators divided over the State of Georgia's purchase of the island in 1947, and the tourists who continue to enjoy this coastal community into the twenty-first century. Within these pages, the story of Jekyll's transformation unfolds. Historic photographs of the island, its early residents, and devoted beachcombers recall the early days when the island was accessed only by ferry and when the elite club reopened as a hotel. Included are images of the island's continued development, prompted by the 1950 formation of the Jekyll Island Authority, which remains today as the island's governing entity. Hotels, parks, restaurants, golf courses, and a host of other attractions are featured in this unique retrospective.

During the Gilded Age, Jekyll Island, Georgia, was one of the most exclusive resort destinations in the United States. Owned by the most elite and inaccessible social club in America, a group whose members included Rockefellers, Pulitzers, Vanderbilts, Goulds, and Morgans, this quiet refuge in the Golden Isles was the perfect winter getaway for the wealthy new industrial class of the snowbound North. In this delightful book, a companion volume to The Jekyll Island Club: Southern Haven for America's Millionaires, June Hall McCash focuses on the social club's members and the "cottages" they built near the clubhouse between 1888 and 1928. Illustrated with hundreds of never-before-published photographs from private family collections, The Jekyll Island Cottage Colony tells the stories of each home, the owners' connections with the island, and their interactions with one another. While quite grand by today's standards, these homes were relatively simple in design, built to enhance rather than subdue the island's wild beauty. The cottages of Jekyll's "Millionaire's Row" were not nearly as lavish as their Newport counterparts, but typified Victorian resort architecture from New England to Florida, ranging from Queen Anne to shingle to Spanish and Mediterranean styles. After the Jekyll Island Club disbanded following World War II, the state of Georgia acquired the island to ensure its conservation. Once threatened by years of neglect and disrepair, the elegant clubhouse has been converted to a hotel, and many of the gracious cottages have been restored to their original condition. The Jekyll Island Cottage Colony is a fascinating guide to a unique treasure of architectural history, as well as a personal look at golden days gone by.

In this sweeping historical saga, you will discover the Millionaires' joys, tribulations, and deeply guarded secrets - told through the unique voices of four Club employees.