The Jekyll Island Club was a private club on
Jekyll Island
Jekyll Island is located off the coast of the U.S. state of Georgia, in Glynn County. It is one of the Sea Islands and one of the Golden Isles of Georgia barrier islands. The island is owned by the State of Georgia and run by a self-sustaining, s ...
, on
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
's Atlantic coast. It was founded in 1886 when members of an incorporated hunting and recreational club purchased the island for $125,000 (about $3.1 million in 2017) from John Eugene du Bignon. The original design of the Jekyll Island Clubhouse, with its signature turret, was completed in January 1888. The club thrived through the early 20th century; its members came from many of the world's wealthiest families, most notably the
Morgans,
Rockefellers
The Rockefeller family () is an American industrial, political, and banking family that owns one of the world's largest fortunes. The fortune was made in the American petroleum industry during the late 19th and early 20th centuries by brot ...
, and
Vanderbilts
The Vanderbilt family is an American family who gained prominence during the Gilded Age. Their success began with the shipping and railroad empires of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and the family expanded into various other areas of industry and philanthr ...
. The club closed at the end of the 1942 season due to complications from
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
In 1947, after five years of funding a staff to keep up the lawn and cottages, the island was purchased from the club's remaining members for $675,000 (about $7.4 million in 2017) during condemnation proceedings by the state of Georgia. The state tried operating the club as a resort, but this was not financially successful, and the entire complex was closed by 1971.
The complex was designated a historic landmark in 1978.
It was restored and reopened as a luxury resort hotel in 1985. Today, Jekyll Island Club Hotel is a member of
Historic Hotels of America
Historic Hotels of America is a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation that was founded in 1989 with 32 charter members; the program accepts nominations and identifies hotels that have maintained their authenticity, sense of pla ...
, the official program of the
National Trust for Historic Preservation
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 by ...
.
Founding
At the end of the plantation era of Jekyll Island, Newton Finney, suggested to Dubignon, his brother-in-law, that they might acquire the island and then sell it to Northern businessmen as a winter resort. A New York banker helped with the purchase of the entire island. By 1885, Dubignon was the sole owner of Jekyll.
In 1885, Finney and a New York associate, Oliver K. King, gathered a group of men and petitioned the
Glynn county courts, becoming incorporated as the "Jekyl Island Club" on December 9, 1885. They agreed to sell 100 shares of the Jekyll Island Club stock to 50 people at $600 a share (about $15,000 in 2017).
![GA Jekyll Island Club HD duBignon Cottage02](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/GA_Jekyll_Island_Club_HD_duBignon_Cottage02.jpg)
![GA Jekyll Island Rockefeller Cottage01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/GA_Jekyll_Island_Rockefeller_Cottage01.jpg)
Finney had no difficulty selling the shares. Six of the first seven shares went to the men who signed the charter petition: Finney, Dubignon, King, Richard L. Ogden, William B. D'Wolf, and Charles L. Schlatter. In all, Finney was able to find 53 people to join the Club, including such famous names as
Henry Hyde
Henry John Hyde (April 18, 1924 – November 29, 2007) was an American politician who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 2007, representing the 6th District of Illinois, an area of Chicago's ...
,
Marshall Field
Marshall Field (August 18, 1834January 16, 1906) was an American entrepreneur and the founder of Marshall Field and Company, the Chicago-based department stores. His business was renowned for its then-exceptional level of quality and customer ...
,
John Pierpont Morgan
John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age. As the head of the banking firm that ultimately became kno ...
,
Joseph Pulitzer
Joseph Pulitzer ( ; born Pulitzer József, ; April 10, 1847 – October 29, 1911) was a Hungarian-American politician and newspaper publisher of the ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' and the ''New York World''. He became a leading national figure in ...
, and
William K. Vanderbilt
William Kissam "Willie" Vanderbilt I (December 12, 1849 – July 22, 1920) was an American heir, businessman, philanthropist and horsebreeder. Born into the Vanderbilt family, he managed his family's railroad investments.
Early life
William Kiss ...
.
On February 17, 1886, Finney signed an official agreement with Dubignon, who sold Jekyll Island to Finney's Jekyll Island Club for $125,000. On April 1, 1886, a meeting was held in New York to create the constitution and by-laws, and to nominate officers for the club. The first president was
Lloyd Aspinwall
John Lloyd Aspinwall (December 12, 1834 – September 4, 1886) was an American lawyer and soldier who served in the U.S. Civil War, achieving the rank of brigadier general in the U.S. National Guard.
Early life
Lloyd, as he was commonly know ...
, vice president was Judge Henry Elias Howland, treasurer was Franklin M. Ketchum, and Richard L. Ogden became secretary. These men faced the difficult task of turning the undeveloped property into a social club for the wealthy upper class of America.
Lloyd Aspinwall served just 5 months as the club president before he died suddenly. Henry Howland then took up the position as president of the Club.
Committees were formed to get the club off the ground. Charles A. Alexander of Chicago was chosen to design the clubhouse, and
Horace William Shaler Cleveland
Horace William Shaler Cleveland (December 16, 1814 – December 5, 1900) was an American landscape architect. His approach to natural landscape design can be seen in projects such as the Grand Rounds in Minneapolis; Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Conco ...
, a famous landscape architect, was chosen to design and lay out the grounds.
Ground was broken on the clubhouse building in mid-August 1886. After some setbacks the clubhouse was completed on November 1. The club officially opened its doors when the executive committee arrived for the 1888 season on January 21.
Several nationally important events took place on Jekyll Island during the Club era, including the first transcontinental telephone call made by
Theodore N. Vail
Theodore Newton Vail (July 16, 1845 – April 16, 1920) was president of American Telephone & Telegraph between 1885 and 1889, and again from 1907 to 1919. Vail saw telephone service as a public utility and moved to consolidate telephone networks u ...
, president of
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...
, to
Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell (, born Alexander Bell; March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born inventor, scientist and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He also co-founded the American Telephone and Te ...
,
Thomas A. Watson and President
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
in 1915; and the development of the
Aldrich–Vreeland Act
The Aldrich–Vreeland Act was a United States law passed in response to the Panic of 1907 which established the National Monetary Commission.
On May 27, 1908, the bill passed the United States House of Representatives, House, mostly on a party- ...
for the
National Monetary Commission
The National Monetary Commission was a U.S. congressional commission created by the Aldrich–Vreeland Act of 1908. After the Panic of 1907, the Commission studied the banking laws of the United States, and the leading countries of Europe. The ...
in 1908.
Recreation during the club era
The Jekyll Island Club was a unique resort, more family-oriented than the
Union Club or the
Chicago Club. It enjoyed great popularity among the elite classes, maintaining a highly exclusive character for 60 years.
When the club started out, hunting was a major recreational activity. A gamekeeper was hired to keep the island well-stocked with pheasants, turkeys, quail and deer.
All members were to report daily what they had killed and turn it over to the club. Wild game was a common sight on the menu of the clubhouse. A
taxidermist
Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body via mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the proce ...
shop was located within the club compound, specifically for mounting the prize game.
As the club grew, other recreations became popular.
Golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
eventually took over as the Club's dominant sport. The first course was located just to the north of the Club compound. Later, in the 1920s, an ocean side course was built. A portion of this historic golf course is still intact, and can be played.
Other leisure activities included carriage driving,
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
, and
bicycling
Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...
.
Role in the history of the Federal Reserve
Jekyll Island was the location of a meeting in November 1910 in whic
draft legislation was writtento create a
central bank
A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the currency and monetary policy of a country or monetary union,
and oversees their commercial banking system. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central ba ...
ing system for the United States. Following the
Panic of 1907
The Panic of 1907, also known as the 1907 Bankers' Panic or Knickerbocker Crisis, was a financial crisis that took place in the United States over a three-week period starting in mid-October, when the New York Stock Exchange fell almost 50% from ...
, banking reform became a major issue in the United States. Senator
Nelson Aldrich
Nelson Wilmarth Aldrich (/ ˈɑldɹɪt͡ʃ/; November 6, 1841 – April 16, 1915) was a prominent American politician and a leader of the Republican Party in the United States Senate, where he represented Rhode Island from 1881 to 1911. By the ...
(
R-
RI), chairman of the
National Monetary Commission
The National Monetary Commission was a U.S. congressional commission created by the Aldrich–Vreeland Act of 1908. After the Panic of 1907, the Commission studied the banking laws of the United States, and the leading countries of Europe. The ...
, went to Europe for almost two years to study that continent's banking systems. Upon his return, he brought together many of the country's leading financiers to Jekyll Island to discuss monetary policy and the banking system, drafting legislation which was introduced in Congress as the "
Aldrich Plan
The National Monetary Commission was a U.S. congressional commission created by the Aldrich–Vreeland Act of 1908. After the Panic of 1907, the Commission studied the banking laws of the United States, and the leading countries of Europe. The c ...
". Some ideas from the Aldrich Plan were later incorporated into the
Federal Reserve Act
The Federal Reserve Act was passed by the 63rd United States Congress and signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on December 23, 1913. The law created the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States.
The Pani ...
.
On the evening of November 22, 1910, Sen. Aldrich and A.P. Andrews (Assistant Secretary of the
United States Treasury Department
The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an United States federal executive departments, executive department. The departme ...
),
Paul Warburg
Paul Moritz Warburg (August 10, 1868 – January 24, 1932) was a German-born American investment banker who served as the 2nd Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve from 1916 to 1918. Prior to his term as vice chairman, Warburg appointed as a member o ...
(a naturalized German representing
Kuhn, Loeb & Co.),
Frank A. Vanderlip
Frank Arthur Vanderlip Sr. (November 17, 1864 – June 30, 1937) was an American banker and journalist. He was president of the National City Bank of New York (now Citibank) from 1909 to 1919, and Assistant Secretary of the Treasury from 18 ...
(president of the National City Bank of New York),
Henry P. Davison
Henry Pomeroy Davison Sr. (June 12, 1867 – May 6, 1922) was an American banker and philanthropist.
Biography
Henry Pomeroy Davison was born on June 12, 1867 in Troy, Pennsylvania, the oldest of the four children of Henrietta and George B. Davis ...
(senior partner of
J. P. Morgan
John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age. As the head of the banking firm that ultimately became known ...
Company), Charles D. Norton (president of the Morgan-dominated First National Bank of New York), and
Benjamin Strong
Benjamin Strong Jr. (December 22, 1872 – October 16, 1928) was an American banker. He served as Governor of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for 14 years until his death. He exerted great influence over the policy and actions of the entire F ...
(representing J. P. Morgan), together representing about one quarter of the world's wealth at the time, left
Hoboken, New Jersey
Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,690 i ...
on a train in complete secrecy, dropping their last names in favor of first names, or code names, so no one would discover who they all were. The excuse for such powerful representatives and wealth was to go on a duck hunting trip on Jekyll Island.
''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
'' magazine founder
Bertie Charles Forbes
Bertie Charles Forbes (; May 14, 1880 – May 6, 1954) was a Scottish-American financial journalist and author who founded ''Forbes'' magazine.
Life and career
Forbes was born in New Deer, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, the son of Agnes (Moir) a ...
wrote several years later:
Picture a party of the nation's greatest bankers stealing out of New York on a private railroad car under cover of darkness, stealthily riding hundreds of miles South, embarking on a mysterious launch, sneaking onto an island deserted by all but a few servants, living there a full week under such rigid secrecy that the names of not one of them was once mentioned, lest the servants learn the identity and disclose to the world this strangest, most secret expedition in the history of American finance. I am not romancing; I am giving to the world, for the first time, the real story of how the famous Aldrich currency report, the foundation of our new currency system, was written ... The utmost secrecy was enjoined upon all. The public must not glean a hint of what was to be done. Senator Aldrich notified each one to go quietly into a private car of which the railroad had received orders to draw up on an unfrequented platform. Off the party set. New York's ubiquitous reporters had been foiled ... Nelson (Aldrich) had confided to Henry, Frank, Paul and Piatt that he was to keep them locked up at Jekyll Island, out of the rest of the world, until they had evolved and compiled a scientific currency system for the United States, the real birth of the present Federal Reserve System, the plan done on Jekyll Island in the conference with Paul, Frank and Henry ... Warburg is the link that binds the Aldrich system and the present system together. He more than any one man has made the system possible as a working reality.
Decline and closure of the club
The
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
in 1929 caused great changes on Jekyll Island. This depression touched even the very wealthy across the country and membership in an exclusive club became an extravagance. Membership dropped slowly through the 1930s as the depression continued.
With the financial situation of the club worsening, the executive committee decided to create a new level of club membership in 1933. A more affordable level of membership, the Associate membership was designed to fit the needs, and pocketbook, of anyone. It was an attempt to draw in new and younger people as well as to draw more members back to the clubhouse. This new membership did revitalize the club membership roster, although only for a brief period.
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
was the final blow to the life of the Jekyll Island Club. The club opened as usual for the 1942 season. However, by the beginning of March it was announced there would be an early close to the season due to the club's financial situation and the strain the war had on the labor situation. The 1942 season would turn out to be the final season for the Jekyll Island Club.
There was hope by the president that the Club might be reopened after the war with renewed interest. However, in 1946 the state of
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
entered the picture. The state's revenue commissioner,
Melvin E. Thompson
Melvin Ernest Thompson (May 1, 1903 – October 3, 1980) was an American educator and politician from Millen in the U.S. state of Georgia. Generally known as M.E. Thompson during his political career, he served as the 70th Governor of Georg ...
, wanted to purchase one of Georgia's barrier islands and open it to the public as a state park. Finally, on June 2, 1947, the state purchased the island through a condemnation order for $675,000 (or approximately $5,563,416 in 2003 dollars).
The club was turned into a public resort by the state, but closed by 1971, a financial failure. It was made a historic landmark in 1978 and restored and reopened as the Radisson Jekyll Island Club Hotel in 1985. Radisson ceased managing the hotel some years later, and it currently operates as the Jekyll Island Club Resort.
List of members
During the club's inception, a limit of 100 members was imposed to ensure the club's exclusiveness. During the financially difficult
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
period, the club began referring to its members as ''founders'' and created the new Associate Membership. This membership was purchased at a lower price, but with all of the benefits that the founders enjoyed, and limited to a total of 150.
This list includes many of the most notable members and is not exhaustive.
Associate Members:
(This class of membership was adopted in 1933)
Presidents
* 1886–1887 — Lloyd Aspinwall
* 1887–1896 — Henry Howland
* 1897–1914 — Charles Lanier
* 1914–1919 — Frederick Bourne
* 1919–1927 — Dr. Walter James
* 1927–1933 — Walter Jennings
* 1933–1938 — J.P. Morgan Jr.
* 1938–1942 — Bernon Prentice
Jekyll Island Club Historic District
Jekyll Island Club Historic District is a National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
(NRHP) historic district and National Historic Landmark District
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, ce ...
in Glynn County, Georgia. Located on the west side of Jekyll Island, the 240-acre (97.1 hectares) district is roughly bordered by Riverview Drive to the west, and the long arc of Stable Road (Old Village Boulevard) to the north, east and south. It contains thirty-three contributing properties from the Jekyll Island Club, including the separately-NRHP-listed Rockefeller Cottage and Faith Chapel. Jekyll Island Club Historic District was added to the NRHP on January 20, 1972, and was designated a national historic landmark district on June 2, 1978.
From 1967-1968, Savannah landscape architect Clermont Huger Lee
Clermont Huger Lee (March 4, 1914 – June 14, 2006) was a landscape architect from Savannah, Georgia, most known for her work designing gardens and parks for historical landmarks in the state. Specifically, Lee is known for her designs such as th ...
created a master development plan with the goal to restore the area known as “Millionaire’s Village” to its 1910-1929 era. Though not fully implemented, Lee’s plans served as a foundation in the redevelopment of today’s Jekyll Island Historic District.
Contributing properties
Non-contributing and demolished properties
See also
* List of National Historic Landmarks in Georgia (U.S. state)
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Glynn County, Georgia
References
External links
The Jekyll Island Museum
- The Jekyll Island Museum
Jekyll Island Club Hotel
- official website
- 1994 article about the restored hotel
Jekyll Island Club Wharf
historical marker
The Boat House Site
historical marker
*
{{Authority control
Buildings and structures completed in 1886
National Historic Landmarks in Georgia (U.S. state)
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Georgia (U.S. state)
Organizations based in Georgia (U.S. state)
1886 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)
Buildings and structures in Glynn County, Georgia
Clubhouses in Georgia (U.S. state)
Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Georgia (U.S. state)
Organizations established in 1886
Gentlemen's clubs in the United States
Golf clubs and courses in Georgia (U.S. state)
Hotel buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Georgia (U.S. state)
Hotels in Georgia (U.S. state)
National Register of Historic Places in Glynn County, Georgia
Jekyll Island
Historic Hotels of America