Jekyll Island, Georgia’s former millionaires’ playground, has a few secrets worth knowing before your next trip to the coast.
I went to Jekyll Island on Georgia’s coast for the first time as a preteen. The Golden Isles getaway was a part of a school field trip, and I have a distinct memory of the buses, packed with middle schoolers, driving through the oak tree canopies.
The tour guide told us tales of America’s historical elite who had built their winter homes on the island. Names like Pulitzer and Vanderbilt ricocheted through my eager learner head while most of the other kids stared out their windows, uninterested.
Since then, I’ve had the pleasure of researching Jekyll for various articles and stories ranging in topic from Major Horton, James Oglethorpe’s right-hand man credited with creating the state’s first brewery, to the architecturally significant mid-century modern homes that dot the shores, juxtaposed against the Victorian time capsule along the riverfront.
It was only recently, though, nearly three decades later, that I made my way back to the island to see it again. After spending a few nights at Jekyll Island Resort, I remembered why 12-year-old me was so fascinated with it in the first place. It’s a place rich with history and harboring a few little-known facts that will raise an eyebrow or two. These are six things you never knew about Jekyll Island.
Because it’s a state park, only about a third of Jekyll can ever be developed
The state of Georgia purchased the entirety of Jekyll Island, including the then-defunct Jekyll Island Club, in 1947 for a modest sum of $675,000. It opened to the public in 1948. The transition to a state park ensured that the island once reserved for a privileged few would belong to all Georgians.
Those governing rules are what keep Jekyll Island the beautiful sanctuary and small town that it is. They state that no more than 35% of the land (1,675 acres) can be used for development such as housing and amenities (including camping!). As such, private home structures belong to homeowners, but the land itself is rented and belongs to the state.
The Island’s Club members, at their peak, reportedly represented a sixth of the world’s wealth
So how did this state park come to be? Indigenous people have inhabited the land for thousands of years, while British settlers, along with their indentured servants (slavery was banned in Georgia until 1751), were among the first non-native residents.
More than a century later, the area became a popular hunting destination before being formally transformed into a hunting club for some of America’s most notable families. The Jekyll Island Club, founded in 1886, counted J.P. Morgan, Marshall Field, and Joseph Pulitzer among its members. At one point, that group of men was responsible for a sixth of the world’s wealth, and their large winter cottages and hunting cabins on the island proved it.
A handful of the era’s most powerful bankers slipped onto the island to draft the plan that laid the foundation for the Federal Reserve
In the fall of 1910, Senator Nelson Aldrich gathered a small group to write a plan for reforming the nation’s banking system. They needed a place where no one would recognize them, and the remote, members-only Jekyll Island Club was the obvious choice, especially thanks to J.P. Morgan, who likely arranged the stay.
To keep the trip top-secret, the men said they were going duck hunting, a believable cover on an island traditionally used for that very purpose. They traveled in a private rail car and called each other only by first names, so the staff wouldn’t know who they were. While there, they drafted the blueprint for a central bank. That plan laid the groundwork for the Federal Reserve.
Jekyll Island was on the line for the first transcontinental phone call
By early 1915, AT&T president Theodore Vail had finally completed a telephone line linking New York to San Francisco, and he intended to be part of its debut. He had planned to join from his New York office, but when an injured leg kept him at his winter retreat on Jekyll, AT&T strung 1,100 miles of copper wire to bring the call to him.
On January 25, 1915, he joined the first coast-to-coast call from the clubhouse, surrounded by fellow club members. President Woodrow Wilson called in from the White House. Alexander Graham Bell, in New York, recreated his famous first phone call with the very same assistant who now sat on the other end in San Francisco. The line stretched more than 4,700 miles, making it the longest call in U.S. history at the time.
It’s home to the Peach State’s only sea turtle rehabilitation and education center
In 2007, the old Jekyll Island Club power plant got a second life as the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. Since then, the center has cared for hundreds of sick and injured turtles, most of them being released back into the ocean once ready.
At the center, visitors can watch the rehabilitation up close or sign up for behind-the-scenes tours. Remember, if you spot an empty tank, don’t be disappointed. It means one of the patients has gone home to the Atlantic Ocean. During nesting season, you can even ride along with the morning sea turtle patrol as it searches the beach for new nests and records data on those already discovered.
Loggerheads are the most common species of turtles along Georgia’s coast, but in fall of 2026, an especially exciting milestone occurred on Jekyll Island: the first successful green sea turtle nest hatched in nearly two decades.
More than 2 million lights cover Holly Jolly Jekyll each Christmas
Every year, a small crew starts building the island’s holiday displays as early as September. By the day after Thanksgiving, lights and handmade displays stretch and sparkle from the beach to the Historic District.
The Great Tree, a huge oak tree, carries more than 45,000 lights. Visitors can take a self-guided light tour, or hop aboard the holiday trolley for a guided viewing. During the day, history tours at Mosaic, the island museum, show how Jekyll Island Club members once celebrated the season.
