Elegant Island Living June 2022

ST. SIMONS ISLAND IS THE PERFECT PLACE TO STEP BACK IN TIME. And it’s been an ideal location to vacation since the 1870s. Back in the days of the lumber mills, boats brought mail and passengers from the mainland. When the new lighthouse was built in 1872, the keeper created a small amusement park that attracted numerous visitors. Families from Brunswick, Waycross, and Baxley made the island their summer retreat and by the 1880s the resort industry was thriving. When hotels and a new pier were erected on the south end with regular ferry service available, wealthy northerners began spending their vacations here too. The opening of the Torras Causeway in 1924 marked a new era by making the island’s beaches easily accessible by automobile to locals and tourists alike. A few years later Howard Coffin added to the island’s appeal with a golf course, yacht club, and residential development complete with paved roads.

P H OTO G R A P H Y BY A N N A L I E S E KO N D O, ST U D I O P I X E L P O P ASSISTED BY MALIK SMILEY