31•81, the Magazine of Jekyll Island: Vol 5 No 1

A Timeless Family Favorite

Find your island sanctuary among our live oaks and sandy beaches.

Our storied history and grand traditions remain at the Jekyll Island Club, yet much has changed. With modern amenities and all the comforts of a southern resort, return to simpler times and explore our island paradise by bike, walk the beaches, or play a round of croquet while you recharge.

THE MAGAZINE OF JEKYLL ISLAND

40

A Southern Rock Story

Before the Allman Brothers Band hit the big time, there was that gig on Jekyll…

By Scott Freeman

48 Broken Heart, Empty Home

A tale of the island's first cottage, a rumored love affair, and an eccentric millionaire. By Tony

Rehagen

54 Ready for Its Closeup

Soldiers, golfers, and zombies all have found a cinematic home on Jekyll Island. By Curt

Holman

62 New Life for a Coastal Classic

Over the past decadeplus, revitalization efforts have refreshed the island experience. By

Josh Green

Care for the Canopy

The island's luxuriant tree cover is not all Mother Nature's doing. By Erica Glasener

traces

In Plain Sight

A surprise at Hollybourne Cottage flora

Perfectly Iconic Sea oats a key part of island ecology

fauna

On a Breeze

A great time to butterfly-watch guardian

A Glass Masterpiece A century-old treasure is restored firsts

Earl Hill

Integrating the island's golf scene artisan

Native American Potters

In pieces of the past we see our humanity my jekyll

Joanie Pritts

A simple bench becomes a family keepsake paths

Nature's Nursery

The quiet beauty of a marsh inlet

top: brian austin lee. middle: shutterstock.com. bottom left: brian austin lee. bottom right: mosaic, jekyll island museum

This blue and white decorative tile is one of the many unique pieces of art adorning the courtyard walls at Villa Ospo. Its history is still being discovered.

100 James Road • Jekyll Island, GA 31527 jekyllisland.com

executive director

C. Jones Hooks

director of marketing & communications

Alexa Hawkins

marketing Coordinator

Summer Conley

creative director

Claire Davis

digital Content Manager (Photographer)

Brian Austin Lee

Photography courtesy of Jekyll Island Authority unless otherwise noted. This magazine was published by the Jekyll Island Authority in cooperation with Atlanta Magazine Custom Media. All contents ©2021. All rights reserved.

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publisher

Sean McGinnis

editorial director

@jekyll_island

e G

@JekyllIsland

about 31 · 81

Published twice a year, 31·81 pairs stunning photography with thoughtful articles to tell the stories of Georgia’s unique barrier island.

Jekyll Island lies at 31 degrees north latitude and 81 degrees west longitude.

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Kevin Benefield editor

John Donovan

art director

Carson Shadwell

associate publisher

Jon Brasher

travel sales director

Jill Teter

production director

Whitney Tomasino

Photograph by Brian Austin Lee

Joseph B. Wilkinson chairman St. Simons Island, GA

Mark Williams commissioner, dnr Atlanta, GA

Joy Burch-Meeks Screven, GA

Dear friends,

When you step inside Mosaic, Jekyll Island Museum and notice the 1947 Studebaker placed in front of a photograph of the island’s historic gates, you’ll find the backdrop to many family photos taken upon reaching the island. The experience of slipping behind the wheel of this classic car represents the excitement people have felt for decades upon arrival at this special place. Today, we may be crossing our causeway in high-tech electric vehicles—or at least cars that are more contemporary than that vintage Studebaker—but the thrill is still there just as it has been since the newly minted Jekyll Island State Park began welcoming visitors 75 years ago.

The Jekyll Island Authority remains committed to protecting the historic and natural resources that have enchanted visitors and residents for all these generations, while creating new experiences to delight, inspire, and deepen connections to the island. Our mission is to precisely calibrate this balance to produce the best possible management of Jekyll Island as a pristine habitat for wildlife, a welcoming destination, and a vibrant community.

The revitalization initiatives, which you’ll read about here, have garnered national acclaim. And now, as we celebrate this year as the 75th anniversary of Jekyll Island State Park, we are focused on carefully managing capacity and avoiding development that is incompatible with the island’s beauty, culture and history.

As we commemorate this important anniversary of the island’s State-era history, we will take stock of the projects—completed in cooperation with our partners—that have made the island more appealing and accessible to new and returning visitors. And we will ensure that Jekyll Island remains a cherished place for all. Just as importantly, this year offers an opportunity to celebrate the unique character and enduring charm we’ve endeavored to preserve. As you read this new issue of 31•81, The Magazine of Jekyll Island, I hope you will make plans to visit us in 2022 to relive your favorite Jekyll Island moments or begin new stories to tell.

Robert “Bob” W. Krueger vicechair Hawkinsville, GA

Hugh “Trip” Tollison Savannah, GA

Dr. L.C. “Buster” Evans Bolingbroke, GA

Glen Willard Richmond Hill, GA

Dale Atkins Baxley, GA

This year offers an toopportunity celebrate the unique character andcharmenduring we’ve endeavored to preserve."

Jones Hooks | Executive Director, Jekyll Island Authority

JEKYLL ISLAND AUTHORITY BOARD OF DIRECTORS

William “Bill” H. Gross secretary/treasurer Kingsland, GA

A Time for Renewal

The tide creeps in and slides out again. Sea turtles nest in sand dunes, their offspring scuttering across the beach to begin another journey in the island's never-ending whorl of life. The sun rises over Driftwood Beach and sets on the marshes.

Renewal is a constant theme on Jekyll Island, whether in the breathtaking realm of nature or in something a bit more manmade. In this issue of 31•81, The Magazine of Jekyll Island, we highlight the revitalization of the island's infrastructure, a remarkable, decade-plus effort that has given this once-sleepy place new roads, hotels, businesses, a boost of energy, and a ticket into the 21st century. Writer Josh Green details how caretakers have deftly balanced a serious responsibility to maintain the island's unspoiled charm with the need to provide first-class amenities and a top-shelf experience that will entice people to return for decades to come (page 62).

Striking the right balance can be tricky. Even the wondrous natural habitat that remains the premiere draw of Jekyll needs help every once in a while. Erica Glasener has the story of the stewards who care for Jekyll's gorgeous tree canopy (page 30), a job that sometimes means uprooting and transplanting the majestic live oaks and Italian cypress that pepper the island's landscape.

Elsewhere in this issue, Scott Freeman (page 40) recounts the night that an iconic Southern Rock band played Jekyll, long before they turned iconic. In 1970, the Allman Brothers Band played a high school dance at the island's now-defunct Gould Auditorium. A month or so later, they were playing before 300,000 fans in Atlanta.

And then there's film critic Curt Holman's piece (page 54) on Jekyll Island's turn as a cinematic home to soldiers, golfers, mutant superheroes, and more than a few slackeyed, flesh-eating undead. Because, after all, nobody knows more about renewal than The Walking Dead.

John Donovan Editor

Caretakers have deftly balanced a serious responsibility to maintain the island's unspoiled charm with the need to provide first-class amenities and a top-shelf experience... "

HAMPTON INN & SUITES JEKYLL ISLAND

YOUR BEACHSIDE GETAWAY ON JEKYLL ISLAND

Located just a few steps from the ocean and complemented with warm hospitality, the Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton Jekyll Island welcomes you. Surrounded by lush maritime forests and the beautiful Atlantic ocean, the Hampton Inn and Suites exudes tranquility, but we are just minutes away from the Jekyll Island National Historic Landmark District.

Whether your visit to Jekyll Island is for leisure, a meeting, or to attend a wedding, the hotel’s modern, spacious 138 guestrooms feature generous services and amenities. Guests will enjoy complimentary breakfast, outdoor pool, kids pool and jacuzzi, and full service lobby bar. Pet friendly rooms are also available.

200 South Beachview Dr. 912-635-3733

jekyllislandsuites.hamptoninn.com

1 Erica Glasener is a horticulturist, author, and former host of A Gardener’s Diary, which aired on HGTV. A tree lover, she currently works with the Piedmont Park Conservancy in Atlanta, where she manages volunteers and works to keep the tree canopy thriving.

2 John Dykes has created thousands of illustrations, earning recognition and awards from the top illustration industry associations. The Norman Rockwell Museum has acquired 23 of John’s original illustrations for its permanent collection.

3 Curt Holman is an award winning film critic and editor based in Atlanta. A former president of the Southeastern Film Critics Association, he has contributed to such publications as Atlanta magazine, The Atlanta JournalConstitution, and Creative Loafing

JEKYLL ISLANDexplorer

More on page14

Hidden in Plain Sight

BY JENNIFER SENATOR

For decades, a team of contractors, preservationists, and volunteers has worked to restore Hollybourne Cottage, a grand Jacobethan-style home built on the western side of Jekyll Island in 1890 by prominent bridge engineer Charles Stewart Maurice. The team has uncovered many important relics in the 12,271-square foot space, including the family's original dining room table. But it wasn't until 15-year-old Lawrence "Braswell" Bryant toured the home in 2018 with his grandmother, Lisa Eldridge of Fourth Street Design (who worked on the home's exterior rehabilitation), that one of the most remarkable discoveries was made.

"Braswell asked me about some drawings on the third floor," recalls Taylor Davis, historic preservationist for the Jekyll Island Authority. Davis initially thought Bryant was referring to graffiti on that level—a heart that reads "Pam + Bobby, 1970."

But what Bryant was looking at was dated 1902.

"I have to admit, I didn't believe him," Davis laughs.

"But there they were. We had walked past them 10,000 times."

The drawings, in graphite pencil, are two silhouettes signed by 14-year-old Emily Maurice and her presumed friend Alice Stickney, dated February 15, 1902. The outline of a shoe and a delicate hand also adorn the plaster wall, along with the lyrics of an 18th century French folk song, Au Clair de la Lune, handwritten in French.

"One of the girls would have been standing by the wall, with another outlining her silhouette," Davis explains. While it seems possible the girls may have traced the silhouettes "by the light of the moon," as the title of the song suggests, Davis believes the girls likely used kerosene lamps. The entire area of the drawing is approximately 4 feet wide by 30 inches high and located in a small alcove in the servant's quarters.

"As a preservationist I'm looking for lots of things, but I'm not always looking for pencil marks, and especially not at knee-height," says Davis, who had been working

A new discovery adds to the old-world magic of Hollybourne Cottage

as the lead preservationist at Hollybourne Cottage for about a year before the drawings were discovered. "It took someone around the girls' age—Braswell—to see what we were missing."

The drawings are a glimpse into the magical world of Hollybourne Cottage in its prime, when it was the center of club society. Maurice and his wife, Charlotte, often hosted elaborate dinner parties and events in the expansive space, designed by Maurice in the same way that he designed bridges, using wooden trusses and long steel tie-rods to support the second floor, allowing for large, open entertaining areas below.

While little else is known about the drawings, it's easy to imagine Emily, her seven siblings, and their friends playing upstairs during these grand events, or perhaps being cared for by servants, while music and laughter emanated from below.

According to Davis, the Maurices are the only family that was a founding member of the Jekyll Island Club who remained on the island until 1947, when the state of Georgia bought the island through eminent domain. The family vowed never to return to Jekyll after that, a promise kept by the family until 2017, when descendants

gathered at Hollybourne Cottage for the wedding of Holly Maurice McClure and Joe Martin.

"It was the family's first taste of seeing what we had done," says Davis. "They seemed to be excited about the ongoing preservation efforts of their family home."

Hollybourne Cottage is open for tours. Davis says that while ongoing preservation projects in the house may limit accessibility to the third floor at times, visitors who are interested in seeing the drawings may request to do so.

Charlotte Touzalin and Emily Maurice on the steps of Hollybourne. Photo courtesy Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

I have to admit, I didn't believe him... But there they were. We had walked past them 10,000 times."

Simple, Solid, Perfectly Iconic

The unassuming sea oat is vital to Jekyll's ecology

BY CANDICE DYER

Sturdier and deeper than they look, sea oats provide the framework for dunes, a defining feature of Jekyll Island's singular topography.

"In terms of engineering, think of them as something that stabilizes a building," says Yank Moore, the Jekyll Island Authority's natural resources manager. "They are definitely one of the most important building blocks of our ecosystem, as well as a symbol of our beaches, of the whole, powerful Jekyll aesthetic."

The round, golden seeds of sea oats look like coins—the size of dimes, nickels, and quarters—and are dispersed, gently, by the ocean breeze. "It's scattershot, and this is a tough climate," Moore says, "but they spread easily and soak up the water that is in the sediment below."

Many animals feed on them, but birds such as the Red-winged Blackbird are especially fond of the seeds, and coastal mice and rabbits nibble at the sea oats' roots.

Sea oats are at their peak in late summer and early fall, just in time for migrating birds (and human "snowbirds") passing through.

Remember: Admire them, but don't walk among them. That's prohibited under the island's code. And absolutely don't harvest them. That's a violation of the Federal Shore Protection Act.

Pure Beauty ON A BREEZE

When temperatures drop, butterflies fill the island air

BY CANDICE DYER

Naturalists call it the "Atlantic flyway," that strip of shoreline stretching from Canada to Florida that migratory butterflies cruise, pausing only periodically along the way to sip nectar.

The most prevalent of the bright orange butterflies that frequent Jekyll, Gulf Fritillaries, stop to unreel their proboscises into flowers growing in the dunes. Purple passionflowers are the snack of choice for these butterflies and act as one of the primary hosts for the Gulf Fritillaries' larvae, which morph into hungry caterpillars that eat the host plant.

You typically can observe three types of butterflies on Jekyll:

the Cloudless Sulphur, a chartreuse-colored insect with rounded wingtips; the regal and iconic Monarchs that resemble stained glass; and the most plentiful but misunderstood of the island's butterflies, the Gulf Fritillaries, which recently have been the subject of some in-depth research. The latter two resemble each other in coloring. Monarchs bear stripes, while their lookalikes feature more spots. Monarchs tend to flap, hover, and then glide; Gulf Fritillaries are constantly flapping their wings.

"The vast majority of the public assumes the Gulf Fritillaries are Monarchs," says Jekyll Island Authority wildlife biologist Joseph Colbert. "I have even seen social media and journal articles misidentify Gulf Fritillaries as Monarchs. We would like to raise awareness of them."

Last September, Colbert and his colleagues counted more than 42,000 Gulf Fritillaries in a single day, the island's biggest counting day ever.

The research, done with partners in the Butterflies of the Atlantic Flyway Alliance, demonstrates Jekyll Island's important role as a stopover for the gorgeous insects during their trek south between August and October.

The most Monarchs documented in a day is a little more than 300.

The butterflies are a lepidopterist's dreams. Yet Colbert warns: Look, but don't disturb.

"They don’t always pass through in such numbers," Colbert says, "since conditions like wind direction, sunniness vs. cloudiness or rain, and temperature seem to make a difference. What is certain is that there are days like that, and the Atlantic Migratory Flyway and Jekyll Island are significant to these species while they make their southbound journey."

A good place to observe the beauty of these butterflies is on the beach. They gather at the south end of Jekyll and whoosh toward Cumberland Island, creating their own soft breezes along the way.

You typically can observe three types of butterflies on Jekyll

shutterstock; illustration by amy holliday

guardian

A Master in Stained Glass

For its 100th birthday, a stunning island treasure receives the white-glove treatment

BY CANDICE DYER

Stained glass windows, by design, bathe their congregants in a warming glow specifically meant to evoke heavenly light. No one understood that, no one quite grasped the exquisite power of these "paintings in glass" quite like Louis Comfort Tiffany, the famed American artist.

Years after Tiffany visited Jekyll Island, sometime in the 1890s, the Jekyll Island Club commissioned a grand window in memory of the Club’s former president, Frederick Bourne, the president of the Singer Sewing Machine Company and a frequent visitor to the island. The piece was installed in Faith Chapel, on Easter weekend in 1921, and since has awed thousands of visitors to the island and lent a rarefied backdrop to interdenominational services.

As part of the window's centennial celebration in 2021, the glass is undergoing a thorough, painstaking restoration. An endeavor like that calls for a certain expertise, so Jekyll has turned to Neal Vogel, principal of Restoric LLC, based in Chicago.

"I am a preservationist by training, and restoration consultant and contractor by trade," he says, "but 'architectural conservator' most closely defines what I do as we strive to conserve historic buildings in their authentic and original state."

Vogel, as a member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, has served more than 400 congregations with technical assistance on their buildings and stained glass.

"Neal Vogel has taught graduate students in Historic Preservation at The School of the Art Institute [in Chicago]," says Andrea Marroquin, curator of Mosaic, Jekyll Island Museum. "He wrote the guidelines on the Preservation of Historic Stained Glass for the National Park Service. Given the significance of Faith Chapel's Tiffany window, it was important to select a specialist with experience conserving windows of this caliber."

John Wardell Clark (left) and Neal Vogel in front of the famed Tiffany window during its assessment.

Well-known Tiffany artist Frederick Wilson designed the Faith Chapel window, "David Set Singers Before the Lord," a 139-inch tall tableau rich in deep, jewel tones. In it, an angel overhead holds a scroll that proclaims, "I will sing unto the Lord for He has triumphed gloriously." Known more informally as the Bourne Memorial Window, it is widely regarded as one of the most vibrant and important of the 25,000 windows created by Tiffany Studios in New York City.

At four panes thick with solid soldering, the window has proven sturdy enough to withstand a century of humidity and hurricanes. But over the years, some moisture and debris have become trapped between the layers. Remedying that is the challenge that Vogel, who studied at Truman University, Iowa State, and the University of Oregon, has accepted.

"It’s a dicey process, a bit like open-heart surgery," Vogel says. "We are trying to leave it in situ [Latin for, roughly, 'in place'] as much as possible as long as it will not jeopardize

the structural integrity of the window."

Vogel is collaborating with John Wardell Clark, the owner of Wardell Art Glass in Aurora, Illinois. Wardell "is one of the first calls for more challenging and/or interesting stained glass projects," according to Vogel.

The window should be restored, in full, sometime this winter.

"The window is already beautiful but will be even more so after it is cleaned," Marroquin says. "We plan to hold lectures and presentations on Tiffany and on the religious symbolism of the window."

For Vogel, who first became interested in stained glass sitting in the pews of the Catholic church that he attended as a boy, the Bourne Memorial Window is a high point in a distinguished career.

"This window is a 10," he says. "There is not a finer one. It is truly one of the finest in the South and in a league of its own. In terms of American glass, this is as good as it gets."

Taking a Stand on the First Tee

BY DEMARCO WILLIAMS

Like all good caddies, Earl Hill, a resourceful and well-known bag-carrier at the Jekyll Island Club in the 1920s, knew the game of golf inside and out. Even better, Hill knew how to use what he knew.

Hill took his knowledge of the sport, a few musical connections that he had nurtured through the years, and paired them with an Atlanta preacher's pioneering efforts to desegregate golf in the state of Georgia to create—some four decades after his caddying heyday on Jekyll—the Southeastern Golf Tournament, the island’s first integrated golf tournament.

That colossal undertaking made Hill one of the island's most impactful agents of change in an era when change did not always come easily.

"He's remembered in the museum," says Andrea Marroquin, curator of Mosaic, Jekyll Island Museum. "We try to commemorate some of the influential, lesser-known people of the island, and he's certainly one of those."

The Rev. Oliver Wendell Holmes of Atlanta helped pave the way for

Hill, pushing to desegregate Atlanta golf courses in 1955 with a landmark Supreme Court decision that struck down Georgia's "separate but equal" doctrine as it applied to public courses throughout the state. Later, when Rev. Holmes, an avid African-American golfer, approached clubs in Savannah and Jekyll Island to play and was turned away, he spoke out in protest.

"A Black golf course had been promised on the south end of the island but had never happened," says Marroquin. "So [Holmes] tried to use the white golf course. And he said when they went to use it, they posted a sign saying it was closed for watering. He was told that, 'They did not allow Negroes to use the course.' He took the issue to the State Parks Commission and requested desegregation of Jekyll Island."

In 1964, a court ruled that the island's state-run facilities be desegregated. And so that same year, Hill—who had kept a close eye on the legal proceedings all along— overcame even more resistance to

organize the inaugural Southeastern Golf Tournament (also called "The Classic"). The festivities surrounding the integrated tournament included an appearance by soul legend Jerry Butler, who sang at the initial awards ceremony. That marked the first desegregated concert in the island’s former convention center.

"Some of these big events probably helped [with integration]," Marroquin says of the tournament, which hosted such golf greats as Lee Elder, Calvin Peete, and Jim Thorpe, and welcomed renowned musicians like Butler, Percy Sledge, and Wilson Pickett. "The golf tournament brought some high-profile players here to the island.

"Earl Hill was very significant in making these things happen."

The Classic ended in the early 1980s. But the legacy of Earl Hill— once a caddie for the millionaires who vacationed on the island, later a scratch golfer himself, and most notably a key figure in the hardfought desegregation of Jekyll Island—lives on.

Caddie Earl Hill helped integrate Jekyll Island golf

Bits of Native American pottery bind us to Jekyll Island's history

BY JEANÉE LEDOUX

Our crafts help make us human. That's as true these days—during the pandemic, many people found comfort in new pastimes like knitting, breadmaking, and woodwork— as it was thousands of years ago. Just have a look at the Native American pottery collection at Mosaic, Jekyll Island Museum. The remnants of everyday wares and ceremonial pieces connect us across time to the region's prehistoric residents.

"Here on Jekyll Island, we have found evidence of Native American pottery use dating back to the late Archaic Period (around 2500–1000 BC)," says Andrea Marroquin, the museum’s curator. The pottery exhibit consists mostly of potsherds (fragments) discovered during local archaeological investigations, routine island maintenance, and even swimming pool excavations. "It can be a challenge to mend sherds together like pieces of a puzzle to determine the original shape," Marroquin says. One of the museum's showstoppers is a massive tobacco-colored pot, built and stamped with a linear pattern circa 1350 AD, that has been painstakingly reconstructed.

Even tiny pottery fragments found among the oyster shells and animal bones in coastal Georgia’s numerous middens (prehistoric dump sites) have tales to tell. "Potsherds can be very helpful in dating a site," Marroquin says. The sherds also signal that a group has settled down in an area, considering pottery is impractical to carry from place to place. Marroquin adds that distinctive patterns and other characteristics of the clay can reveal connections between people in different regions, links like trade routes and intermarriage.

The techniques that Jekyll's ancient potters employed are still in use today. Craftspeople roll the clay into coils, stack them to form a vessel, then smooth the exterior with rock and water. They add decorations with several different methods, which can include incising lines or pressing a fabric or stamp into the surface. After that, they dry the piece in the sun and bake it in an open fire. They heat it slowly for several hours, then cool it gradually to avoid breakage.

While most of Mosaic's pottery pieces are rooted in survival—cooking, eating, storage—one stands out for

Curator Andrea Marroquin arranges potsherds in an exhibit at Mosaic, Jekyll Island Museum.

mosaic, jekyll island museum

its striking beauty. This tall, chiminea-shaped vessel with concentric circles and waves swirling around its neck is a reproduction of the Swift Creek variety of pottery. Tammy Beane, an Alabama ceramicist who specializes in prehistoric and early historic pottery techniques of the Southeast, gleaned information from a potsherd to make the vessel and a carved wooden paddle used to stamp the pattern on it. (That same special potsherd inspired the museum's logo.)

The pottery collection at Mosaic, Jekyll Island Museum is just one way to learn about Native American life on the island. Visitors to the museum also can explore a Timucua hut, climb in a dugout canoe, check out tools carved from stone and bone, and peer inside a reproduction of a midden. Guests may even be inspired to think about the kinds of artifacts they'd like to leave behind for future archaeologists pondering life in the 21st century.

Discover The Wharf – your new favorite waterfront restaurant and bar. Enjoy coastal comfort food and refreshing cocktails while you take in a stunning sunset.

mosaic, jekyll island museum

my jekyll

“When my son, Jackson, was little he would say, ‘I had ice cream with Pappy Shipley on the bench.’ And it totally rocked our world because he never met my parents, but he liked this mint chip ice cream, which was my father’s favorite ice cream… Jackson is 8 now, and when we were down last June, taking photos on the bench like we always do, I could see this haze through my camera lens, like there was someone sitting right beside my son.”—joanie

pritts

As told to JENNIFER SENATOR

Photographs courtesy of PRITTS FAMILY

joanie pritts, pictured with husband matt, son jackson, and other members of the family. in 2008, joanie and matt dedicated a bench near the jekyll island club resort to joanie's parents, clyde and loretta shipley, who had vacationed on the island since 1989. in 2020, the pritts purchased a new bench to replace the old, worn one. the original now sits on a hill at their home in somerset, pennsylvania, as a reminder of joanie's parents' love for jekyll and each other.

CARE FOR THE CANOPY

By ERICA GLASENER

Photos by BRIAN AUSTIN LEE

Illustrated by YANA BEYLINSON

the island's lush tree cover is not all mother nature's doing

JEKYLL ISLAND'S

magnificent trees,

most notably the grand live oaks that line roadways and make up a good part of the native canopy, are a well-known and much-loved element of the look and feel of the island. The beauties filter the air, provide welcome shade, furnish needed habitat for the area's pollinators, and supply a year-round elegance that is a part of the very definition of the island.

What visitors and residents may not be aware of, though, is the great lengths that are taken to maintain and preserve these natural wonders.

Cliff Gawron, the director of landscape and planning for the Jekyll Island Authority, and his team are charged with keeping the island looking beautiful and natural. When it comes to the trees of Jekyll, "Our primary focus is to preserve the overall native canopy which Jekyll is known for,"

Gawron says. "We try very hard not to have a net loss of live oaks on the island and our Tree Protection Ordinance affords the highest level of protection to our healthy live oaks. Other native trees are also afforded a level of protection as well." Those include red cedar, cabbage palms, bald cypress, bay magnolias, pond cypress, slash pines, and longleaf pines.

The trees on Jekyll face numerous challenges unique to the maritime forest of Georgia's barrier islands. Exposure to salt water and fresh water. Varying tides that lead to flooding followed by drought. Extreme temperatures.

But, according to Gawron, "the greatest challenges trees face on Jekyll include development pressures such as increased density on developed parcels and the impacts of humans; mainly compaction

SOUTHERN LIVE OAK (Quercus virginiana)

is the state tree of Georgia. The majestic oak can grow to 80 feet high with massive horizontal branches that can provide up to a 100-foot canopy.

"Our primary focus is to preserve the overall native canopy which Jekyll is known for"

to tree roots and the addition of active use areas in such close proximity to the trees."

By law, only 1,675 acres are designated for development on Jekyll Island, which helps Gawron and his team minimize the collateral impact to the island's trees. "Most of these impacts by themselves are minor," he says, "but when they occur cumulatively over time, they can have a significant impact on the overall health of a tree."

Once in a while Gawron and his team have to transplant large mature trees to keep them healthy and thriving. One of the primary challenges when digging and moving established trees is having sufficient room to execute the work. It's especially tricky when large equipment to dig out and move the root ball is necessary.

The work also requires a long-term commitment to the aftercare of the transplanted trees. Depending on where the tree is moved, Gawron's team uses either installed irrigation (not available in most locations) or a water truck (which can be both labor- and time-intensive) to keep the trees healthy.

Under ideal circumstances, Gawron and his crew root-prune trees a year before they're scheduled to be moved. They use a sharp spade to slice through roots, cutting them from 9 inches to a foot away from the base of the trunk for every inch in diameter of the tree. This encourages new feeder roots to grow so that when the tree is transplanted the fresh roots help the tree to acclimate more quickly to its new home.

Members of the Jekyll Island Authority Landscape Department lower a new tree into place near Villa Ospo.

Left to right: New soil is brought in to support the new tree. The new tree is planted and straightened into position along the row of nearby trees.

BALD CYPRESS

(Taxodium distichum)

is a long-lived deciduous cone-bearing tree that grows 50- to 70-feet tall and sometimes up to 100 feet. It grows in swamps or dry soils, and produces knobby growths above the roots that are called "knees."

LONGLEAF PINE

(Pinus palustris)

has a species name that means "of the marshes." This pine grows in wet or dry soils. The showy seed cones mature in two years and are 6 to 10 inches long.

Even in developed areas, 70-75% of new plants on the island are native.

RED CEDAR (Juniperus virginiana)

is an evergreen sometimes columnar that makes a great windbreak and can tolerate high winds from 60-80 mph.

In reality, sometimes Gawron's team simply doesn't have the luxury to plan ahead. During the revitalization of the Beach Village and Convention Center in the fall of 2010, some 40 mature, live oaks had to be transplanted. The project began in September and was complete by Thanksgiving.

"The largest live oak we moved was a 37-inch dbh [diameter at breast height] tree. Of all the 40 trees that we moved, we only lost two," Gawron says. "Drip irrigation was installed for all of the trees that were moved. They were carefully monitored for the first two years and then periodically for the following three years after being transplanted."

And most recently, Gawron and his team replaced a dead Club-era cyprus tree with a young cyprus that was relocated from outside of Villa Ospo (pictured left). This new cyprus was carefully selected to ensure it could survive being transplanted and would match the aesthetic framing of the entrance to Crane Cottage.

In reforestation efforts on Jekyll, workers typically plant 4-inch diameter trees. They try to plant in cooler months, generally from the middle of October until late April, before trees bud and new growth starts for the next growing season. This reduces the stress put on the trees and allows them to focus their energy on establishing new roots.

Cliff Gawron inspects and cares for a tree near Villa Ospo.

SWEETBAY MAGNOLIA (Magnolia virginiana)

grows to 15-20 feet, mostly evergreen with lemony scented creamy white flowers in spring. Leaves are silver on the undersides.

"When we're planting in areas that are considered undeveloped, we focus exclusively on planting natives," Gawron says. In developed areas, non-natives are used as accents and to add seasonal color with plants like crape myrtles, loquat trees, Sylvester date palms, Italian cypress, and Arizona cypress. Even in developed areas, 70-75% of new plants on the island are native.

Gawron has come to the conclusion, over the years, that certain exotic trees should not be planted because of their weedy nature. The Pindo palm (Butia capitata) is known as the jelly palm for its edible gelatinous yellow fruits. The fruits spread easily and quickly and are a threat to the dunes and marsh. Another aggressive species to avoid—one that will crowd out natives—is the Camphor tree (Cinnamomum camphora). The seed is spread far and wide by birds. When it comes to invasive plants, the Chinese tallow (Triadica sebifera) is the most aggressive species. Gawron considers it Public Enemy No. 1 when it comes to invasive exotics on Jekyll Island.

The biggest threat to local trees, though, is not hungry developers, rowdy visitors, or runaway plants. "If the island were ever to be directly hit by a major hurricane," Gawron says, "the impacts would be overwhelming to most of the mature trees on the island."

When trees die or are damaged, Gawron and his team work with other tree-loving types to sustain a thriving maritime forest and natural green space around the island.

"The Jekyll Island Authority works closely with several organizations–Georgia Forestry, Garden Clubs of Georgia, and the Jekyll Island Foundation–that have provided funding through grants and donor gifts to further invest in reforestation of the island," he says. The JIA also invests fines from strict tree-ordinance violations back into planting expenses.

In 2017, the JIA began a new program to grow live oak and pine seedlings from existing trees. Since then, more than 1,230 new trees have been planted, and there are plans to plant another 100 mature ones by the end of June 2022.

Despite the challenges, and because of the work of many, Jekyll Island's stately canopy continues to thrive. Most impressively, it remains an enduring symbol of the place; beautiful and strong, a successful partnership of man and nature.

CABBAGE PALM (Sabal palmetto)

is highly salt-tolerant and has fragrant flowers. It's the source for palmetto honey.

Before the Allman Brothers Band hit the big time, there was a high school dance on Jekyll...

By SCOTT FREEMAN

the big house museum, macon, ga

n Friday, July 3, 1970, the Allman Brothers Band opened the threeday Atlanta Pop Festival at the Middle Georgia Raceway in Byron, taking the stage around 7 p.m. An estimated 300,000 people were packed together in the blazing Georgia heat, drawn to the Southern version of Woodstock and to hear headliners Jimi Hendrix, Procol Harum, 10 Years After, Mountain, Richie Havens, and B.B. King. Few in the audience were there specifically to see the Allman Brothers, and

most didn't even know who they were. The band had underground followings from performances at fledgling rock concert venues in New York City, San Francisco, New Orleans, and Boston. And the Allmans had built a strong fan base in Atlanta through a series of free Sunday afternoon concerts in Piedmont Park. But a band that would grow into one of rock's most legendary groups was still largely unknown to the masses and scrambling just to survive.

n fact, four weeks before the Atlanta Pop Festival, the Allman Brothers Band had played one of its more profitable shows of the first half of 1970; a party for the Glynn Academy senior class at Jekyll Island's Gould Auditorium. (Glynn Academy, one of the oldest high schools in the nation, is a public school in nearby Brunswick, Georgia.)

"June 2, 1970 at Gould Auditorium, that was my first gig as their road manager," says William "Willie" Perkins, who became one of the group's longtime mainstays. "We made a thousand dollars, which was big at that point. High schools, fraternities, colleges, we hit them up pretty good. Back then, we averaged around five or six hundred dollars a night for most shows."

The Gould Auditorium show, for the few who witnessed it, showcased a band on the cusp of breaking through.

Duane Allman and his little brother, Gregg, were born in Nashville but spent most of their childhood in Daytona Beach. The two brothers first gained a musical following in northeast Florida in the mid-'60s with their band the Allman Joys. Duane and Gregg were teenagers when the band started, musicians with blazing talent but still working to hone their skills.

Top: Booking slip courtesy of Willie Perkins. Bottom: courtesy of The Big House Museum, Macon, GA

Bob Herrin, who would become the guitarist in Flood—a band based out of St. Simons Island—had a friend in Daytona who told him, "You've got to hear these guys." So Herrin drove to Daytona one weekend and was blown away by both brothers: Duane's command of the guitar and the power of Gregg's voice. "I heard them play on the pier in Daytona, and then in a little club," he says.

In March 1969, Duane and Gregg joined forces with four other musicians in Jacksonville to form the Allman Brothers Band. The band had two drummers, one of whom was Black, making the Allman Brothers the first interracial rock band from the South. The musicians moved to the sleepy city of Macon, where their manager, Phil Walden, was based. Walden guided the career of Otis Redding until the soul singer's death in a 1967 plane crash, and had shifted his focus to the world of rock and roll.

The Allman Brothers Band debut album—which featured such signature songs as "Whipping Post" and "Dreams"— was released that November and had gone largely unnoticed, initially selling just 34,000 copies. With concert venues and rock clubs few and far between in the Southeast, the band regularly played college fraternities and even high school dances during its hardscrabble early days.

Top: The Allman Brothers Band self-titled debut album

Bottom: Piedmont Park free concert, 1969. Photo by Twiggs Lyndon

"THEY LOOKED LIKE CONFEDERATE GENERALS RISEN FROM THE DEAD TO REDEEM THEMSELVES FOR SLAVERY AND THE CENTURY OF SOUTHERN OPPRESSION THAT FOLLOWED. 'WHIPPING POST' STRUCK ME AS EXISTENTIALLY POIGNANT. IT WAS CATHARTIC."

hen Glynn Academy senior Robert Anderson became aware that the Allmans played high school gigs, he was determined to book them for the academy's senior night party. Like Herrin, Anderson had seen the Allman Joys in Daytona and Gainesville, and was a huge fan of the Allman Brothers Band. He and the senior class president happened to be in charge of the school's senior bash, where a party band called Leaves of Grass was scheduled to play.

"The class president and I absconded with the funds for the senior party, ditched the sanctioned party band in favor of our last minute hire, the Allman Brothers Band," Anderson wrote in a Facebook post. "The football dudes wanted to murder us for shucking Leaves of Grass, a favorite of senior parties of the past, and moms and chaperones everywhere."

Herrin and members of Flood came over from St. Simons Island to see the Allman Brothers perform at Gould Auditorium. "We hung out with them outside the back door where they loaded in their gear," he says. "Gregg was doing a lot of drinking that night. We actually helped carry him onstage to his B-3 organ."

The members of Flood were among the few people outside Glynn Academy who witnessed the show. "There weren't a lot of people. It was a senior party," Herrin says.

For the uninitiated seniors, it must have been a culture shock when they heard the Allman Brothers Band fire up. There was no beach music to be heard, no familiar Beatles or Motown covers; this was hard core blues-based rock played at extremely high volume.

"It was a great concert," says Herrin. "I was surprised at how good they sounded. I was impressed with ‘Dreams' and Duane's sweet slide playing. I remember they did 'In Memory of Elizabeth Reed' and 'Whipping Post,' but I don't remember what else they played."

In his Facebook post, Anderson said bassist Berry Oakley wore a Confederate soldier's cap. "They looked like Confederate generals risen from the dead to redeem themselves for slavery and the century of Southern oppression that followed. 'Whipping Post' struck me as existentially poignant. It was cathartic."

About Gould Auditorium

Gould Auditorium was built in 1913 by Edwin Gould as a casino for members and guests of the Jekyll Island Club. In 1957, the structure was remodeled and converted into the Gould Auditorium. It served as the island's first convention center. It also played host to high school dances.

Gould Auditorium, as it appeared in 1970

Gould Auditorium today

Opposite: On stage at Gould Duane Allman plays his famous Gibson Les Paul Goldtop, which recently sold for $1.2 million.

Photo by Merle Tory Torstenson

hree weeks later, Herrin and the members of Flood drove to Byron ahead of the Atlanta Pop Festival to try to talk their way onto the bill. There was a "free stage" set aside for local bands and for jam sessions, and Flood essentially took over there as the resident band.

In 1971, as the Allman Brothers had done at Piedmont Park, Flood set up one afternoon at the south end of Jekyll in the picnic area and played for free. "We had no permits, and we had a bunch of college kids show up," says Herrin. "We did it again in 1972. A couple of promoters got involved and all of a sudden, they were expecting 10,000 people. It really got out of hand and we didn't do it again after that."

Flood later signed a record deal and performed a big show at Jekyll's now-dormant amphitheater. Despite a critically lauded album, stardom didn't come for Flood.

These days, three of the original members, including Herrin, perform as Tie Dye Sunset around the Golden Isles. For the Allman Brothers, the Atlanta Pop Festival served as a springboard for the group to begin to take its place as one of the great American rock bands.

Flood takes the stage on Jekyll Island.

Photo courtesy of Ricky Carter.

The Allmans opened the festival Friday night, then closed it early Monday morning. They played with muscle and finesse, and were the clear hit of the festival. The unreleased film of their performances is electrifying. The festival was a coming of age for the group, and the place where the Southern rock movement began to take root. In the last months of 1970, the band's popularity surged and a second album was released. Gigs at frat parties and high school dances were no longer necessary.

In fact, Perkins says, it's likely Gould Auditorium has a singular distinction: the site of the last high school dance the Allman Brothers Band ever played.

No set list exists for the June 2, 1970 Gould Auditorium performance. But based on shows from that time period, these are the likely songs performed by the Allman Brothers:

Statesboro Blues

Trouble No More

Don't Keep Me Wonderin' Dreams

Hoochie Coochie Man

Stormy Monday Blues In Memory of Elizabeth Reed

Whipping Post Mountain Jam

Photo by Neil Burgard

Scott Freeman is the author of Midnight Riders: The Story of the Allman Brothers Band. He is the executive editor of ArtsATL.

Heart, Empty Home

PHOTOS COURTESY MOSAIC, JEKYLL ISLAND MUSEUM

by TONY REHAGEN

ON APRIL 8, 1926, AT 3 A.M., MILLIONAIRE BANKER AND FINANCIER MCEVERS

BAYARD BROWN, 73, DIED OF A HEART

ATTACK ABOARD HIS YACHT, THE VALFREYIA, WHICH WAS MOORED OFF THE COAST NEAR ESSEX, ENGLAND. AT THE TIME, BROWN WAS SURROUNDED ONLY BY HIS STEWARD AND HIS COOK. HE HAD NO FAMILY. HE HAD NEVER MARRIED.

In the days following his death, as attendants cleaned the cabin where the "Hermit of Essex Coast" had spent the last half of his lonely existence, newspapers, including The New York Times, reported that "the charred remains of a photograph of a woman" was found. Even at the time, reports of the mysterious photo's existence were in dispute—one of Brown's stewards was quoted as saying the story was "all bunkum." But the story fits neatly into a romantic narrative that began 38 years prior to Brown's death, more than 4,000 miles away, across the Atlantic Ocean, on Jekyll Island. There, in 1888, a half-mile north of the Jekyll Island Clubhouse, Brown had commissioned construction of the island's first cottage. Brown built the house, the legend goes, for himself and his bride-to-be.

But neither he, nor any lover of his, ever stepped across the house's threshold. In fact, Brown never stepped foot on Jekyll Island at all.

"There's no evidence to actually back up this story," says Andrea Marroquin, curator of Mosaic, the Jekyll Island Museum. "But it's a tale of unrequited love."

A tale of the island's first cottage, an eccentric millionaire hermit, and a rumored love affair

Brown joined the Jekyll Island Club in the organization's first year, 1886. He was 34 and had just inherited—as the sole heir— his family's fortune. But he was still active in business, maintaining an office in New York as either a lawyer or (according to different sources) a banker. He also served as a board member for the Terminal and Danville railroad lines. Brown had a reputation as a socialite, with membership in the upper-crust Knickerbocker Club, the Union Club, and the Riding Club. He was mentioned in the gossip columns of the Times and other publications. Around this time, Brown also somewhat ironically began to show hints of an antisocial personality that would only intensify through the course of his life.

One of the early signs of his withdrawal from society may be found in his connection to Jekyll Island. At the time, the island was about as remote a getaway from the white-tie gala of gilded-age New York that a millionaire could find, while still maintaining an accustomed level of luxury. Brown paid his dues to join the ritzy Jekyll Island Club, but bucked the idea of boarding in the posh clubhouse, becoming the first Club member to build a cottage. He seemed to intentionally position it in a relatively secluded area of the island overlooking the Marshes of Glynn.

Brown Cottage was built in 1888 and valued at $10,000. Brown enlisted architect William Burnet Tuthill, who had designed Carnegie Hall, the Princeton Inn, and the Columbia Yacht Club. The Queen Anne-style cottage was somewhat humbler: Two stories with a semi-circular wraparound front porch leading to a first-floor living room, den, dining room, and pantry.

Upstairs were three bedrooms and a bathroom. The kitchen was in the basement with a servant's dining room, an extra toilet, and a dumbwaiter. And a bridge over the marsh connected the home to the stables.

On the cottage's facade, large bay windows in the living room and the second-floor master bedroom were distinctive. And the broad covered porches at either end of the structure would have provided ample opportunity for a loving couple to bookend their days with sunrises and sunsets.

Not that the home's owner would ever see any of it. By the time of the house's completion, Brown already had set sail for Europe, never to return to the U.S. "Brown would never discuss his reasons for leaving America," says Marroquin. "He just exiled himself to his palatial yacht for 36 years. He maintained a crew of 18 men with standing orders to put out for his homeland at any moment. But that order never came."

But neither he, nor any lover of his, ever stepped across the house's threshold.

The absence of an explanation for Brown's self-expatriation opens the way for alternate tales, like the story of an unspeakable, doomed love affair. Likewise, the lack of any evidence of Brown ever having any companion in his life creates a blank canvas upon which speculators can sketch a Helen of Troy.

"Nothing is known about the young woman in question [in the charred photo], and her identity remains a mystery," writes author and professor June Hall McCash in "The Jekyll Island Cottage Colony," a 1998 book. "Some accounts claim she jilted him at the altar; others contend they were actually married when she ran away; still others question the story altogether."

No matter how fanciful, the story also gains credence by later accounts of Brown's erratic behavior. As early as 1894, the New York Daily Tribune report-

ed that his antics had "passed the border which separates eccentricity from insanity." In Brightlingsea, the nearest Essex town, he was known to alternately throw beggars gold sovereigns or hot coals from the deck of his yacht, depending on his whims. Crewmen would report that Brown would randomly soak them with water from a giant syringe or creep up on them in bed to beat them with the cook's poker for somehow offending him. Paranoid, he'd sometimes suspect that dynamite had been hidden among the coals onboard, so he'd have the entire load thrown overboard. And he burned all of his mail immediately after reading it, including newspapers from his native New York, which he didn't want any of his staff reading. In fact, McCash writes, "none of his men was permitted to mention America in his presence, it was said, nor, they claimed, did he ever speak to them about his homeland."

eccentricityseparatesfrom insanity.

Back on Jekyll, Brown Cottage led a far less eventful existence. It sat vacant for some time before its upkeep was passed on to a live-in caretaker, Jekyll Island launch captain James Agnew Clark. The captain was asked to leave when, on another whim, Brown decided from England that he wanted the house refurbished. When the work was done, Clark refused to move back, in part because he deemed the cottage's location undesirable for him and his new wife. The home's remoteness prevented sale or even leasing of the structure, so Brown Cottage spent the remainder of its lonely time alternately housing caretakers and workers of the Club.

Reports indicate that Brown Cottage stood until the end of the Club Era in 1942. By the time the state of Georgia took control of the island in 1947, little remained. Sometime in that interim, the structure, likely crumbling, burned down or was demolished. Today, the only sign that Brown Cottage ever existed is the foundation of a brick chimney on the site near Jekyll Island Airport and an historical marker that briefly recounts the tale of a millionaire absentee owner.

In reality, the indisputable story of Brown Cottage is one of a home abandoned, not a lover. But the house's romantic story of unrequited love, if apocryphal, endures.

“His antics had passed the border which

”

Ready for Its C l ose up

SOLDIERS, GOLFERS, AND ZOMBIES ALL HAVE FOUND A CINEMATIC HOME ON JEKYLL ISLAND

By CURT H OLMAN Illustrations by J OHN S. DYKES

eople on set for film and television productions put in famously long hours. A day on location routinely starts before dawn and lasts until well after dusk.

The already-busy schedule for filming the Season 10 premiere of AMC's long-running zombie drama The Walking Dead was complicated by its location shooting at Jekyll Island's Driftwood Beach. In addition to the usual demands of an outdoor production—the undead's makeup, for example, has to stand up to some pretty extreme heat—The Walking Dead crew also had to deal with nesting season for the area's sea turtles.

"Our first choice for a filming site had nests there, so we had to relocate a little further down the beach," says Mike Riley, the show's location manager. "Fortunately we found an area with a lot of rock and riprap [rock used to protect structures on the shore], which the turtles avoid."

That wasn't the only accommodation Dead made for Jekyll Island's resident reptiles.

"Because it was nesting season, we couldn't have artificial lights, which would attract (disorient) the turtles. So everyone had to wear red headlights instead," Riley says.

The crew adjusted to the unconventional headwear, Riley says, and the work paid off in an episode in which the show's protagonists discover a shipwreck filled with ravenous zombies.

"If you need a beach, Jekyll Island's sort of the go-to place," Riley says. He points to the beauty and accessibility of the island's beaches and the ease of working with the Jekyll Island Authority as reasons why it's become a reliable location for Hollywood.

The natural beauty isn't the only attraction. "The Jekyll Island historic district covers a broad time period," says Andrea Marroquin, curator of Mosaic, Jekyll Island Museum. "From the Victorian/Edwardian era to the Roaring 20s, the historic district can be adapted to fit different stories and settings through time."

Kailey Becker, a locations assistant for the 2021-released sci-fi film The Tomorrow War, says the island's easy to navigate, too, with hotels and shooting locations within miles of each other, "It's also beautiful," she says. "It was sunny and 70 degrees in mid-winter. The Christmas decorations were definitely a relaxing site to see at the end of a long shooting day."

Here's a tour of some of the film and TV productions that have used Jekyll Island as a backdrop.

Glory (1989)

Director Edward Zwick's Civil War epic brought attention to some of the unsung heroes in U.S. history: the soldiers of color who fought for the Union during the Civil War. Glory focuses specifically on the Black soldiers of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment (including Morgan Freeman, Andre Braugher, and Denzel Washington), under the command of Col. Robert Gould Shaw (Matthew Broderick).

The production looked to Jekyll Island as the location for shooting the climactic assault in Fort Wagner, a fortification key to protecting Charleston Harbor in South Carolina. "When the project came to Georgia, they wanted to build a fort and shoot on a beach," Riley recalls. "That was probably the largest project that had been shot on Jekyll Island."

Location: The beach attack sequence was filmed on the southeastern part of the island, where the production built a wooden boardwalk to transport dozens of actors and tons of props equipment to the beach. The spot is now called Glory Beach after the Oscar-winning film. The boardwalk still provides beach access to the island’s visitors.

Trivia: Civil War historians have pointed out that Glory shows the soldiers of the 54th attacking Fort Wagner from north to south, with the ocean on their left. The actual attack occurred from the opposite direction.

"That was probably the largest project that had been shot on JekyLL Island"

X-Men: First Class (2011)

In an alternate version of U.S. history, the turning point of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis took place on Jekyll Island. That's according to X-Men: First Class, the fifth film in the series based on the Marvel Comics characters.

Set in the swinging 1960s, the prequel shows the origins of the X-Men, a team of superpowered "mutants," as a group of evil-doers, led by Kevin Bacon's scheming villain, attempt to engineer a thermonuclear war.

Shot on a Jekyll beach that was standing in for a Cuba, the finale of X-Men: First Class was probably one of the biggest and most complex sequences shot on the island since Glory. The location featured a set of the crashed "X-Jet" and several large green screens, one of which simulated a beached submarine in the finished film.

According to FX Guide magazine, the production brought in and planted more than 100 palm trees to make Jekyll's beach look more like a tropical Cuban shore. Unfortunately, just before the shoot began, the temperature dropped below freezing, causing the palm trees to turn brown or die rapidly, requiring digital color-correction.

Location: The scene was filmed in the North Dunes Park area (currently known as Oceanview Beach Park) on the east side of the island, near the intersection of Capt. Wylly Road and Beachview Drive. The movie also features a prominent scene at the Clam Creek Fishing Pier off the north tip of the island.

Trivia: As a prequel, the film recasts James McAvoy as the telepathic Professor X, previously played by Patrick Stewart, and Michael Fassbender as the vengeful Magneto, taking over for Ian McKellen.

The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000)

The fifth film directed by Robert Redford, The Legend of Bagger Vance offers a poetic account of a fictional 1930s golf match. Will Smith plays the title role, a mysterious caddy who advises Rannulf Junuh (Matt Damon), a golfer and World War I veteran, in an exhibition match against real-life golfing greats Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen. The film showcased Jekyll's vintage architecture.

Location: Bagger Vance filmed scenes at the Jekyll Island Club Resort and built a colonnade on the Resort's riverfront lawn for a dance scene. Due to fears of a hurricane, the crew had to dismantle the colonnade and rebuild it in the same place to finish the shoot.

In addition, a bar was built near the Club Resort's grand dining room. After shooting, it was placed in storage in Savannah, but Club Resort leadership later reinstalled it as a permanent fixture.

Trivia: Like the novel it's based on, the film's plot is loosely inspired by the sacred Hindu text "Bhagavad Gita." The names "Bagger Vance" and "Junuh" are taken from characters in the story, "Bhagavan" and "Arjuna."

"From e Victoan/Edwardian era to e Roang 20s, e histoc distct can be adapted to fit different stoes and settings rough time."

Magic Mike XXL (2015)

In 2012, the first Magic Mike movie starred Channing Tatum as a male exotic dancer in a dramedy with some surprisingly serious themes about economic distress. For the more light-hearted sequel, Magic Mike and his buddies, the "Kings of Tampa," take a road trip to Myrtle Beach to stage a big performance at a convention.

Location: The Jekyll Island Convention Center stood in for Myrtle Beach in one setting. The interior scenes, however, were filmed at Savannah International Trade and Convention Center, now named the Savannah Convention Center.

Trivia: Matthew McConaughey had a career-revitalizing performance in the previous film, but after winning the Oscar for 2013's Dallas Buyers Club, his asking price became too high for the sequel.

Live By Night (2016)

Ben Affleck directed, wrote and starred in this glossy Prohibition-era gangster epic. Live By Night finds some fresh perspectives for a mob movie by setting gangsters at odds with Cuban immigrants, Southern evangelicals, and the KKK.

Brunswick stood in for Tampa and Ybor City, but some sequences were also shot on Jekyll Island, including at picturesque St. Andrews Beach Park.

Shooting in the area was convenient for Affleck, who had a 6,000-square foot home on nearby Hampton Island. In 2018 he put the Greek Revival mansion for sale for $8.9 million.

The Walking Dead (2017 and 2019)

The Walking Dead first shot on Jekyll Island late in its seventh season, introducing a community of survivors called Oceanside. "We sent down a 'splinter unit' of about 30-40 crew and cast to film over one weekend," Riley says. "Then, when we returned for the Season 10 premiere, we were there for a week and a half."

Location: "Driftwood Beach, on the Northeast side, had the look for what we wanted," Riley says. "It has driftwood trees: they once were inland but the ocean encroached, so now there's decayed timber. It sort of has an apocalyptic look to it, which is certainly what we want for The Walking Dead."

Trivia: Perhaps the signature show of Georgia's boom in film and TV production, The Walking Dead is scheduled to conclude with its 11th season in 2022.

"If you need a beach, Jeky Island's sort of e go-to place"

The Tomorrow War (2021)

This action-packed summer Blockbuster depicts soldiers from the future traveling to the present to enlist the likes of Chris Pratt's Iraq vet to stop aliens from destroying humanity in 30 years. Amid intense sequences of troops shooting at monstrous aliens, the action takes a breather at one of Jekyll Island's beaches, standing in for the Dominican Republic. As Pratt's character has a heart-to-heart with a future soldier played by Yvonne Strahovski, the expansive but soothing surf provides a welcome moment of calm.

Location: Shooting of the sequence began on Beachview Drive South and ended on the shore between the South Dunes Picnic Area and Glory Beach.

Trivia: The Tomorrow War was originally intended for theatrical release, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Paramount Pictures sold it to Amazon Prime for a reported $200 million.

Jeky Is la nd Production s

The View From Pompey's Head (1955): Was the first major Hollywood production on the island. Based on Hamilton Basso's bestselling novel of the same name, it depicts secrets and intrigue at Pompey's Head, a fictional coastal town in South Carolina. Locations on Jekyll include Indian Mound Cottage and Driftwood Beach.

Camilla (1994): A road comedy pairing two women of different generations played by Bridget Fonda and Jessica Tandy, with scenes at the Jekyll Island Club Resort. It was Tandy's final movie, and included her last filmed scenes with Hume Cronyn, her husband of more than 50 years.

Jekyll Island (1998):

This low-budget thriller depicts a jewel thief who makes a big score on the island but proves unable to make a clean getaway. Filmed at such locations as the Jekyll Island Club, Clam Creek, and Summer Waves.

The Leisure Seeker (2018): Donald Sutherland and Dame Helen Mirren play a retired couple dealing with an advancing case of dementia (Sutherland) and cancer (Mirren), who drive a Winnebago nicknamed "The Leisure Seeker" from Massachusetts to Key West. Mirren received a Golden Globe nomination for the film.

FRESH LIFE FOR A COASTAL CLASSIC

Over the past decade-plus, island revitalization efforts have created a new kind of Jekyll.

By JOSH GREEN

Ask longtime Jekyll Island visitors and residents for their impressions of the place prior to 2010, and the response was a mixture of nostalgia and hopefulness.

Andrea Marroquin, curator of Mosaic, Jekyll Island Museum, moved to the area in 2003. She likens the old Jekyll to The Velveteen Rabbit—something beloved but a bit tattered and worn. Jekyll Realty owner C.J. Jefferies, an island resident for 40 years, says non-locals for decades considered Jekyll “a place frozen in time, a sleepy little seaside community where little changed from year to year.” Repeat visitors found that comforting, says the broker, but newcomers sometimes looked elsewhere for their next vacation, someplace with more updated amenities and a little less sleepiness.

That was Noel Jensen’s feeling in 2007 after moving his family from North Carolina to Jekyll’s Glynn County. They visited the island for a couple of days and left unimpressed—that’s putting it gently. They didn’t return until Jensen came back to manage a private construction project on the island in 2015. He was awed by the refreshed Ben Fortson Parkway, the revitalized island roundabout, the obvious investments in hotels. “It was stunning,” recalls Jensen, who would become senior director of facilities and public services for the Jekyll Island Authority (JIA) in 2015, and now serves as deputy executive director. “It was really a signal that Jekyll was back, right in the entry corridor. It didn’t take long to realize it was once again a special place.”

corsair beach park. photo by david fisher

So how did Jekyll transform from its bedraggled bunny phase to Money magazine’s No. 1 U.S. travel destination of 2019? How did it come alive as a uniquely historic barrier island that maintains balance between enchanting nature and commerce without becoming Myrtle Beach South?

A turning point came when the chairman Bob Krueger and the JIA Board hired current executive director Jones Hooks in the summer of 2008. A 30-year veteran of managing multifaceted organizations, Hooks has had a knack for seeing value in buildings considered “to be beyond their useful life,” and for finding ways “between public-private partnerships, public funds, and just straight investment from interested parties to totally give Jekyll Island a facelift that it truly needed,” says Jensen.

A formal reinvestment effort funded mostly by private dollars began in 2008. It was hampered by the Great Recession, but then took off in tune with America’s reviving economy. In that span of time, revitalization efforts experienced false starts and economic setbacks, but really kicked off when the JIA ended a partnership with an Atlanta-based developer and instead transitioned to accomplishing projects one by one, including the completion of Beach Village which was a turning point for progress.

In the past decade, Jekyll Island has seen an infusion of more than $300 million in private and public revitalization funding investments in the form of Beach Village, a $38 million convention center, the new $44 million, 200-room Westin hotel, a new $16 million, 107-room Home2 Suites by Hilton hotel, and various other new projects and facelifts that have created what feels like a completely different visitor experience. By law, no more than 1,675 acres of the island can be developed, which means all new construction has taken shape on the footprint of previous structures, instead of clearing forests or beachfront property. And, many projects outside of the original revitalization plans have been funded as a result of revitalization. Not since the island was transitioning to a state park in the 1950s has it seen such a boom.

Traffic onto the island swelled to 1.2 million vehicles in 2019—a nearly 37 percent increase over 2013. The growth in JIA revenues over the same timespan was even more dramatic: up 56 percent to $4.2 million in calendar-year 2019.

Jekyll Island Convention Center in the 1990s and today.

“NOT SINCE THE ISLAND WAS TRANSITIONING TO A STATE PARK IN THE 1950S HAS IT SEEN SUCH A BOOM”

photo by brian austin lee

But as the JIA looks to the future, finding balance remains the key to success for the island, Hooks says: “With much of the original revitalization plan completed, capacity management becomes our greatest priority. The enhanced facilities and amenities provide the funding needed to preserve Jekyll’s natural resources and character—its greatest asset—so that visitors and residents can enjoy the uncrowded and natural recreation that set Jekyll Island apart from other destinations.”

Here’s a closer look at key projects that have helped make Jekyll new again:

GREAT DUNES BEACH PARK

This 20-acre linear beachfront park near the island’s central core—Jekyll’s most popular for families—opened in 2010. These days, attractions include bocce ball, volleyball, a beach deck, and several picnic pavilions, as well as ADA-accessible restroom and shower facilities.

FRESHENING UP THE ROOMS

Also in 2010, the Hampton Inn opened, marking Jekyll’s first newly built hotel in thirty years. The most recent hotel addition, a dual-branded Marriott property, debuted in the summer of 2021, on the site where several previous hotels dating back to the 1960s have stood. Now, what remains, is one undeveloped parcel of land next to the new Courtyard & Residence Inn by Marriott that was slated for development within the original revitalization plans. “At least 10 hotels have been revitalized or built in the past decade,” says Jensen. “Only the Days Inn hasn’t had a top-to-bottom renovation during the [broader] revitalization.”

JEKYLL ISLAND CONVENTION CENTER

According to Jensen, it’s hard to overstate the economic impact the Southeast’s only oceanfront convention center has made. The modern facility opened in 2012, spanning 128,000 square feet with capacity for 2,000 guests. Jensen calls the venue’s roughly $39 million construction costs paltry by today’s standards and one of the best investments ever made on Jekyll. “It supplies a piece of the visitation pie that had more or less evaporated,” he says, “because of the condition of the old convention center.”

Great Dunes Beach Park pre and post revitalization.

Courtyard & Residence Inn by Marriott location, 2008 and today.

The old Jekyll Island shopping center in the early 2000s. Beach Village today.

CAUSEWAY IMPROVEMENTS

Upgrades to the once-humdrum Jekyll Island Causeway have been happening for years. “We took several elements— the entrance with the pond and signs, as well as the [1950s] welcome towers—and redesigned them so the whole space leading up to the causeway would have a more cohesive appearance and experience,” says Marroquin.

BEACH VILLAGE

What’s been called the island’s “epicenter” at Main Street and Ocean Way opened in 2015 as a palm-studded hub of gifts shops, market fare, and clothing boutiques next to The Westin Jekyll Island and the Home2 Suites.

CAMP JEKYLL

After years of neglect and degradation, the JIA opened a brand-new, state-of-the-art learning and youth center on the old 4-H Center grounds in 2017—where one of the few beachfront destinations open to African-Americans before the civil rights era had once stood. The 256-bed, $17-million complex carefully retained the original pavilion with civil rights elements that provide interpretation of its important history. Today, the facility hosts thousands of kids annually from across the state.

MOSAIC, JEKYLL ISLAND MUSEUM

In spring 2019, a $3.1-million restoration and redesign of the museum debuted, chronicling island history from the Native American era through the 1960s via in-depth and interactive exhibits. It’s housed in the late 1800s former Jekyll Island Club stable. Marroquin says patronage since the building’s redo has been “amazing” across all age groups.

The new Mosaic, Jekyll Island Museum above and the former museum on the right.

JEKYLL’S WILDCARDS

Smaller—but important—island additions:

A REAL GAS

The $1.4-million upgrade of sleepy Jekyll Island Airport that wrapped in April 2020 included the island’s first aviation fuel facilities—an unexpected boon for tourism that’s attracted owners of small planes from far and wide.

SUMMERTIME SPLASH

Recent additions to the 1980s-era Summer Waves waterpark, including the kids’ zone Shark Tooth Cove, have been a draw in recent years. But the addition of a towering, four-slide complex in 2022 called Man o’ War will be a game-changer, capable of accommodating 700 people per hour.

BICYCLING B OO ST

More than 20 miles of bike trails and pathways have been created and updated across the island, winding through a variety of landscapes from marshes to forests.

GOLF OU TLO OK

With four distinctive courses, golfing’s a big deal on Jekyll, but the latest course remodel happened back in the ‘80s. Revitalization is now being considered as part of ongoing work on the island’s courses, through a golf improvement strategy.

CAM PGRO UND GL OW UP

Georgia’s largest state-owned campground is frequently exceeding eighty percent occupancy and is due for an upgrade. Through partial funding from capital congressional grants, the JIA has plans to add 57 new campsites, four ADA-accessible bath houses, a 6,000 sq. ft. store and laundry facility, and six yurts, a first for the coastal area.

“IT WAS REALLY A SIGNAL THAT JEKYLL WAS BACK...IT DIDN’T TAKE LONG TO REALIZE IT WAS ONCE AGAIN A SPECIAL PLACE.”

NATURE'S NURSERY

The ocean that surrounds Jekyll Island and all the marshes therein teem with adult marine life. In between are the marsh inlets, nature’s nurseries. As the midday sun begins its descent, and the tide rolls in, rising waters deposit nutrients from the sea upon the muddy flats. There in the brackish shallows, among the cordgrass and the shorebirds scanning for insects, the innumerable spawn of ghost crabs, shrimp, and all manner of fish are safe to feed and grow. They'll need their strength. Predatory fish, knowing the same tide that feeds the young will one day carry them to the open sea, lie in wait in the deepening sound just beyond the inlet. Anglers lurk there, too, poles and baited hooks poised to snag the predators and give the younglings a fighting chance to slip through. —tony rehagen

PATHS

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IMAGINE THE STORIES YOU’LL TELL

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