The first auto raised hackles on the island.
BY LISA MOWRY
Before Jekyll Island was opened to automobiles, the vacation-minded residents of the former Jekyll Island Club enjoyed a quiet, non-motorized existence. The transportation mode of choice circa 1900 was pastoral, with horses and carriages reflecting the simplicity and natural beauty of life on the island.
Imagine the uproar, then, on December 27, 1900, when homeowner William Struthers shipped his car to the island. Drama ensued! “The Club had previously determined not to allow automobiles on the island for noise and safety reasons,” says Andrea Marroquin, curator of Mosaic, Jekyll Island Museum. “The loud vehicles might startle the animals and cause them to bolt, endangering riders and passengers.” Struthers was promptly asked to remove his car from the island, and he did, under protest. He took the automobile (make and model unknown) back to his home in Philadelphia, and by all accounts was “much wrought up about it.”
Shortly afterward, the Jekyll Island Club’s Executive Committee reversed its position, albeit with some strict caveats. According to the records: “On Jan 10, 1901, Automobiles shall be permitted only on the beach and on the back road connecting the Club House and stables with the beach via the [Wylly] Road. Automobiles shall be brought to a full stop when meeting horses driven or ridden and shall continue stopped until such horses have passed. The speed of automobiles on road shall not exceed six miles an hour.”
Even after the new rules were adopted, autos were more tolerated than favored, Marroquin says. “The exclusive nature of the Gilded Era island retreat kept them in limited use,” she says.
Still, the prestige and convenience of owning an automobile soon meant that the car became part of island life. By 1905, the Club constructed a “Chauffer’s Dorm” along Pier Road, and by 1910, the Club’s stables were converted into a garage. Cars arrived first by train to Brunswick and then by barge to the island.
After the island became a state park and the Jekyll Island Causeway opened in 1954, car life became the norm. Restrictions still apply, though. The speed limit on island roads, unless otherwise posted, is 35 mph. And no motorized vehicles are allowed on the beach or bike paths.
