Only five miles away from downtown Brunswick, Georgia, Jekyll Island feels like its a world away. One of the many barrier islands lining the US east coast from the Carolinas all the way to Florida, Jekyll has been a popular vacation spot since Europeans first came to this part of North America.
Spaniards first landed on the island in the early 1500s, and it was included in the land occupied and governed by Ponce de Leon. By the early 1700s, however, the English had driven the Spaniards out and took over possession of the island. The current name was bestowed by General James Oglethorpe, founder of the colony of Georgia, who had received a stipend towards the founding by Joseph Jekyll.
In the late 1800s through early 1900s, the island was home to the Jekyll Island Club. Local cottages were built by the Morgan, Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, and Pulitzer families, and the stately clubhouse still remains on the island. In the late 1940s, the Club sold the island to the state of Georgia so that it could become a park.
Today, people visit Jekyll to explore the wide sandy beaches, to look at the remaining “cottages”, and to enjoy the mild spring weather. Which is exactly what we did from a couple of anchorages nearby.
