Jekyll Island Club National Historic Landmark
District
At first, it was the farm and home of John Eugene duBignon. But, with
the help of his brother-in-law Newton Finney, it became what Munsey’s
Magazine called “the richest, most inaccessible club in the world” –
the Jekyll Island Club.
Club members included men such as J.P. Morgan, Joseph Pulitzer, William
K. Vanderbilt, and Marshall Field, to name only a few. Members prized
the island for its “sense of splendid isolation”, as well as its beautiful
landscape and moderate climate. At a time when the idea of a modern
seaside resort was still a novelty, members experienced levels of luxury
and service that were remarkable, even by today’s standards.
Members and their guests enjoyed hunting, horseback riding, skeet
shooting, golf, tennis, biking, croquet, lawn bowling, picnics, and
carriage rides. Several members built “cottages” which were simple in
comparison to structures in their urban areas or Newport Rhode Island.
Though designed simply and somewhat eclectically, they certainly met
the comfort levels that the members were accustomed to.
In 1972, the Jekyll Island Club was designated as historic by being
placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Additional recognition
was gained in 1979 when the National Park Service awarded Landmark status,
creating the Jekyll Island Club National Historic Landmark District.
By placing the 240-acre site and 33 historic structures into the National
Historic Landmark program, the importance of Jekyll Island’s place in
American History was recognized.
Today, the Jekyll Island Club National Historic Landmark District
is a one of the largest, ongoing restoration projects in the southeastern
United States. The work to preserve the site has resulted in numerous
awards and recognitions, including Jekyll Island being named to the
National Trust for Historic Preservation’s 12 Distinctive Destinations
and receiving the 2008 Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation’s Marguerite
William Award for Preservation.
Horton House
Major William Horton was granted Jekyll Island by the Trustees of the
colony of Georgia in 1738, and he constructed this home in 1743.
Horton was one of General James Oglethorpe’s top military aids and
was in charge of troops garrisoned at Fort Frederica on nearby St. Simon’s
Island. Horton farmed the island, producing crops to aid with supplying
Ft. Frederica. This included hops and barley to produce Georgia’s first
beer. Eventually, Horton added a warehouse to the site, of which remains
still exist.
The site also includes the cemetery of the DuBignon Family, which
owned Jekyll from 1790-1886 and occupied the house as their home from
1790 until sometime in the mid1800s.
The Horton House is one of the oldest buildings in Georgia, and the
site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Preservation
work on the site was made possible by a Save America’s Treasures grant
from the National Park Service, and received an Excellence in Preservation
award from the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation.
The Wanderer Memorial
On November 28, 1858, the Wanderer sailed into the St. Andrews Sound
south of Jekyll Island. On board were roughly 400 enslaved Africans
who were illegally imported to the United States in one of the most
sensational and controversial moments in Jekyll Island history – and
brought the island into the middle of the most heated moment in our
country’s history.
The Wanderer Memorial includes a sculpture by artist Mario Schambon
and three text panels describing this event, the sensational trial of
the slave runners, and the fate and legacy of many of the enslaved Africans.
The Wanderer Memorial is located on the southern end of Jekyll Island
in the St. Andrews Picnic area. It was dedicated on the 150th Anniversary
of the ships landing in 2008.
The Wanderer Memorial is made possible by the Jekyll Island Authority
and the generosity of the Friends of Historic Jekyll Island.>
Archaeological Sites
The Jekyll Island Museum began actively managing the archaeological
resources of the island in the 1970s. Since that time, the museum has
conducted archaeological surveys, site testing, and research projects
on Jekyll Island’s historic and prehistoric resources.