The Wanderer – the documented, yacht-turned-slave ship carrying an illegal cargo of people from Africa to the United States – landed on Jekyll Island on November 28, 1858. Read the history and stories of the captives and those who enslaved them in the articles and links within. Walk in their footprints and see how they lived along The Wanderer Memory Trail on the southern shores of Jekyll Island.
The beauty and care of Jekyll Island thrives under partnerships, helping to advance conservation, restoration, and sustainability through shared goals. Like the mutually beneficial relationships of nature, partnerships such as those between the Jekyll Island Authority (JIA) and Jekyll Island Foundation (JIF) have built long-lasting efforts that keep Jekyll Island a natural treasure for everyone. Read more to learn about the valuable partnerships of Jekyll Island.
Jekyll’s turtle population is always under surveillance—and that daily—and nightly—activity just got easier for our Georgia Sea Turtle Center research staff with the provision of a new utility terrain vehicle (UTV). Thanks to JIF donors, the research team can cover more ground, better track turtle movements, and patrol beaches, golf courses, and residential areas more thoroughly.
A unique piece of Jekyll Island history, the stained-glass masterpiece 'David Set Singers Before the Lord' by Louis Comfort Tiffany, is a true feat of expertise, talent, and artistic ability. Now, celebrate 100 years of the beautiful piece that calls Jekyll Island home by exploring the deep history of Faith Chapel, Tiffany, and the historic window within through a unique immersive experience. Visit Mosaic, Jekyll Island Museum and experience the beauty firsthand.
One of Jekyll Island's most beloved ongoing preservation projects is Hollybourne Cottage. Built in 1891 by bridge construction expert and Jekyll Island Club original member Charles Maurice, the family home uniquely represents an era of Jekyll’s past. Schedule a tour of this beautiful cottage to see restoration in action.
It’s the season for nesting loggerheads on Jekyll—and all the beach patrols, turtle nest monitoring, hatchling data collection, and guest observation activities are about to begin. Georgia Sea Turtle Center staff and AmeriCorps members are excited to begin another summer of care for some of Jekyll’s most beloved animals. Find out how and when you can be involved in supporting wildlife conservation for our island’s turtles.
The ancestors of the Gullah Geechee people came to the United States as enslaved Africans, beginning in the 1700s. Today, the Gullah Geechee culture can be found along the Southeastern coast of South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida. The community has retained many cultural traditions such as sweetgrass basketmaking and ring shouting, passed down from their African ancestors.
It’s spring—and a favorite Jekyll Island tradition is on the calendar once again! This year, in an effort to keep all race participants safe, the annual Turtle Crawl race will be held virtually. Runners and walkers of all ages can chart their own course on May 1, 2021. And all funds from race registrations will continue to support the Georgia Sea Turtle Center’s mission of sea turtle rehabilitation, research, and education. Sign up to become a sea turtle ambassador and race for a cause.
Measuring sustainability is challenging, but the Jekyll Island Authority’s commitment to maintain “the delicate balance between nature and humankind” means we must continue to take steps forward to care for our island environment. Read about innovative conservation efforts happening now—charting a path to cleaner air, responsible water use, and waste reduction.
Approaching its 2nd anniversary, Mosaic, Jekyll Island Museum weathered the COVID-19 pandemic with minimal disruption. During those quiet weeks, the Mosaic staff took a proactive approach to create new opportunities and programming. With safety protocols in place, the Mosaic reopened touting new tours leaving from the facility, including Ranger Walks to see the island’s active bald eagle nest and exciting seasonal programming, making the most of the 2020 holiday season. READ MORE to see what’s next.
Marine debris cleanup events and monitoring continue on Jekyll Island! Each year the Georgia Sea Turtle Center manages ongoing initiatives to monitor, collect, and investigate coastal marine debris issues. GSTC staff and volunteers work to keep the environment and beaches of the island clean.
“Ghost tools” from Horton House, a 1931 oil painting, a colorful stained-glass window, and a carriage that’s more than a hundred years old . . . each of these beautiful artifacts has been examined by conservationists and cleaned for display. Jekyll Island Museum staff are taking measures to ensure long-term care for these items, and many more, to ensure Jekyll Island’s history is preserved for future generations to enjoy.
School was an important part of life for Jekyll Island’s working families. By the 1920s, the last home on Red Row had been converted into a schoolhouse for children of the African American employees of the Jekyll Island Club. On average, ten to fifteen pupils attended the little schoolhouse. Over the years, teachers included Professor Wilder, Katye Cash, and Anna Hill.
It’s back!—your opportunity to join Jekyll’s annual January-February treasure hunt. Approximately 250 hollow glass balls are concealed around the island each winter, and anyone is welcome to search for and find them. Each clear glass globe may then be traded in for a beautiful, colored Island Treasure, created for this event by talented American artisans in the historic style of fishermen’s net-marker globes. Visit Jekyll in the next month to enjoy this activity yourself.
Georgia Sea Turtle Center staff are gearing up for one of their best summer guest opportunities: evening and sunrise beach walks. Plan now to join researchers on a stroll of Jekyll’s coast. These up-close events—offered from June through August—give you a chance to learn about turtle lifecycles, witness nest inventories, or catch a glimpse of a loggerhead hatchling!
Jekyll Island Conservation staff is working hard to create wildlife corridors—safe spaces for the wild animals of our island to eat, move, thrive, and survive. Habitat connectivity is critical as we make sure that the landscape of Jekyll is danger-free, accommodating the needs of mammals, reptiles, birds, and insects. Learn more about how you can support these conservation efforts on Jekyll Island.
February—known as Black History Month—is the perfect time to explore the stories of Jekyll’s dedicated African-American workforce. A new Mosaic, Jekyll Island Museum exhibit tells of Charlie Hill, his extended family, and others who faithfully served members of the Jekyll Island Club in the 1930s and for many decades. The labor of these service employees impacted the landscape, facilities, and activities of Jekyll’s club community. Visit the museum to learn more about these employees’ lives, contributions, and legacy.
The successful inauguration of the Paulk Cup Classic recognized golf legend Johnny Paulk and his influence on Jekyll Island golf. This annual tournament benefits the Jekyll Island Foundation, a cause about which Paulk was passionate. To honor Paulk, three generations of his family presented the Paulk Cup at the tournament’s opening ceremony. Read more about this event and the plans for next year’s tournament.
The Jekyll Island Club Resort is hosting Festivals of Speed—a boutique Display of Cars—on its Riverfront Lawn on December 13, free to the public. Car enthusiasts may be involved in a number of ways, from entering their exotic or muscle cars in the contests to visiting the event and viewing cars on display, and even bidding on LIVE auction items including artwork by Thomas Arvid, benefitting the Jekyll Island Foundation. Arrive Saturday evening to attend a ticketed welcome cocktail reception on December 12. Follow the link below to read the details for the Festivals of Speed event.
Christmas is a magical time of year, especially on Jekyll Island! View the stained-glass masterpiece “Adoration of the Christ Child” in the historic Faith Chapel, take a trolley tour to explore favorite Jekyll Christmas traditions, or visit the elaborate light displays around the island to kindle your holiday spirit. Read all about the many festive activities available on Jekyll Island.
Guests of Jekyll Island in the late spring and early summer may find unexpected obstacles on the causeway. Female diamondback terrapins seek out elevated sites for their eggs, and when they get too close to the causeway, they are often hit by cars. Georgia Sea Turtle Center personnel conduct a terrapin census, care for injured animals, mark and relocate uninjured terrapins, and generally work to conserve the diamondback terrapin population. Read more about the wildlife conservation efforts of the GSTC.
Hailing from Pennsylvania, Jekyll Island Authority’s new director of historic resources loves history and education. Michael Scott’s new role offers ample opportunity to share his passion for both interests at the Mosaic. Attending a leadership program on Jekyll Island sparked his interest in the history of the island. Read about how Scott’s education and experience qualify him to help preserve and celebrate the history of Jekyll Island.
Puerto Rican native Sergio Sabat-Bonilla comes to Jekyll Island as a Georgia Sea Grant State Fellow. In this capacity, he hopes to promote conservation of the birds of Georgia’s coastal region. Sabat-Bonilla’s passion and education position him to expand conservation efforts in our area. Read about the exciting work being accomplished Jekyll Island and in Georgia.
It’s the best time of the year! The Holly Jolly Jekyll season has been reimagined to ensure guests will remain safe and healthy while participating in activities the whole family will enjoy. From fireworks to playing a round of mini golf under twinkling lights, every day of the Holly Jolly Jekyll season is filled with joy and merriment.
As another successful nesting season comes to a close on Jekyll Island, you mayonder, "How do the GSTC researchers keep track of all these individuals?" Follow the link to learn more about their research, programs, and ways you can join in the fun!
We invite you to celebrate the reopening of Mistletoe Cottage! Following extensive efforts to rehabilitate the sunroom to its Jekyll Island Club Era appearance, the original beauty of the cottage can now be discovered through tours and special programs of the historic district.
Turtles, dolphins, alligators, and deer are animals Jekyll Island visitors may expect to see, but a top predator like the Eastern Diamondback rattlesnake? A conservation priority to the JIA since 2011, these beautiful creatures have mastered the art of avoiding people and blending in with their surroundings, while contributing to the ecological stabilization on the island.
Increase comes in many forms—nature, wildlife, and historic research projects, relationship building with friends who become family, and organizational upgrades. Now, thousands of guests enjoy the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, Mosaic Museum, and multiple viewing platforms and nature trails. And behind the scenes there are practical use, repair, and research projects like wildlife transport vans and ATV’s, and historic cottage repairs happening all around. Let’s take a quick journey back at what we’ve accomplished together and a glance at what's to come!
Horton Pond is our island’s timeless theater of biodiversity—with dragonflies, herons, wood ducks, and reptiles showing off their summer beauty. You can join us “up close” for a unique educational experience at Horton Pond: Gatorology—a ranger-led program scheduled twice each week. Space is limited.
Our Mosaic Museum staff are standing by to take you on a comprehensive tour of a unique island treasure—Hollybourne Cottage, built in 1890. This in-depth restoration project is now, for the first time ever, open for public tours after twenty years of careful work to preserve its beauty and present its historic glory.
Ready to get out and enjoy our gorgeous island again? The Georgia Sea Turtle Center is now open to the public—with room to distance and enjoy eco-learning in a well-sanitized space. Stop in to learn more about the diamondback terrapins we care for in our coastal environment, sign up to participate in our next turtle walk, or get an update on our female turtles’ rehabilitation.
It’s hard to capture the meaning of a visit to a beautiful location like Jekyll Island. But our new online store—just opened in July—features all kinds of memorabilia to help you remember the magic of your coastal visits. (Check out a few of our most popular items below.) Read more about the variety of merchandise available in this newly opened Jekyll Island web shop!
To serve, or not to serve, that is the question. Nearly 200 GSTC AmeriCorps volunteers have helped to facilitate the work of our coastal turtle rehab and research center in the last eleven years—contributing to our island’s wildlife welfare and gaining valuable civic experience in the process. Read more about this partnership program and learn how AmeriCorps members have utilized their coastal Georgia service experience in veterinary, educational, or scientific careers.
100 years ago this summer, Narcissa Vanderlip and other prominent suffragist members of the Jekyll Island Club finally experienced the fruit of their labors: American women were granted the right to vote. “I literally marched for women’s rights,” Mrs. Vanderlip stated regarding her involvement in New York’s League for Women Voters. Learn more about the efforts of these women, who used their social prominence for social good. An exhibit is on display now at Mosaic, the Jekyll Island Museum.
With nearly two years of evaluating and planning, alongside intensive testing and quality assurance phases, a new gate entry system is now in operation on Jekyll Island. Featuring intuitive touch screens and informative visual displays, the system is designed to make trips onto the island more efficient and convenient for visitors, residents, employees of island businesses, and service providers. In addition to the new technology deployed at the entry gates, an enhanced online portal has been launched to improve the process for annual pass purchases and renewals and allow for single or multi-day passes to be purchased in advance of arrival.
Although Wilson’s plovers—shorebirds monitored on Jekyll since 2015—are classified as threatened by the State of Georgia, the number of nesting pairs appears to be trending upward, and we are now seeing these birds nest in places that they had not previously been using. Read more about the plovers’ coastal nesting environments and how Jekyll beach-goers can protect adult plovers and their chicks.
Rescuing, Raising, & Releasing Diamondback Terrapin hatchlings - Take a one-year journey into the first year of a hatchling from being found in egg along the causeway, to witnessing their birth as they poke their head out of the shell, to watching them swim, eat, and grow, and finally being released back into the marsh.
While spring may be thought of as the time of rebirth and renewal, particularly in nature, that time occurs in the fall for those of us in conservation. That’s the time of year when the Bald Eagles return to Jekyll.
During the winter months the Georgia Sea Turtle Center commonly receives cold stunned turtles, often from other parts of the country, such as Massachusetts. Each year the GSTC creates a “naming theme” for these patients. One year the theme was ice cream flavors and a young green turtle patient that year was named “Chocolate.”
April marks the one-year anniversary of the opening of Mosaic, the Jekyll Island Museum. Housed in the old Jekyll Island Club Stables, Mosaic pays tribute to its roots.
Built in 1891, Hollybourne Cottage is a Jacobethan-style, two-story property that once belonged to a prominent bridge builder—Charles Stewart Maurice. The cottage is unique since it’s the only one of that era to be constructed with tabby—a concrete mixture of lime, sand, and shell.
The annual Jekyll Island Turtle Crawl—taking place March 14, 2020—is shaping up to beat its own record. Previously a triathlon-focused race, the event was revamped last year to offer new race formats and attract a wider variety of participants. The decision has proved to be a wise one, as nearly 1,000 people participated in the 2019 Turtle Crawl 10K, 5K, and family 1-mile Fun Run.
This January, JIA’s conservation department used prescribed fire to maintain a restored muhly meadow along Beachview Road. Using fire helps maximize the grass community and prevents bushy trees like wax myrtles and pines from taking over.
The preservation of Hollybourne has been a project near and dear to many hearts for over twenty years. The Bridge Builder’s Cottage, as it is often referred to, is unique among the many cottages on Jekyll Island. This project, while long from complete, is allowing us to preserve the beauty of the cottage for future visitors to the island. Many volunteers have donated their time to the project over the years, and many groups such as the Jekyll Island Foundation have helped to fund renovations for the cottage.
“Throughout the summer months (May - August), the beaches of Jekyll Island become more than just a place to stroll, collect seashells, and catch breathtaking sunrises. During the evenings, these beaches are visited by female loggerhead sea turtles determined to lay their eggs without interference. About 60 days later these same beaches are paths to a new life for hundreds of loggerhead hatchlings.”
Through a generous gift from an anonymous donor, Jekyll Island Foundation (JIF) funded the materials necessary for Jekyll Island Authority (JIA) to improve Major Horton Road, now a multi-use trail closed to vehicle access that crosses the island and connects the Horton House colonial site to the Horton Pond wildlife-viewing area – building upon the success of that prior JIF project.
The Georgia Sea Turtle Center partnered with collaborators to find out if Loggerhead Sea Turtles that lay their eggs on Jekyll Island have persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in their blood and if they are passing them down to their hatchlings. This is the first study (that we know of) that aims to discover if POPs exist in wild Loggerhead Sea Turtles. The GSTC depends on- and is grateful to- Jekyll Island Foundation donors to keep the research in motion – quite literally.
The new Georgia Sea Turtle Center specialty license plate features a familiar face. Drivers can support the center build awareness of the important research and conservation work being done on Jekyll Island, when they apply for the plate.
A stroll through a museum is often accompanied by the voices of school children on a field trip. With the opening of Mosaic, The Jekyll Island Museum, the education staff has been working on creating new field trip experiences for students coming to Jekyll Island. Educators identified over 130 Social Studies and English Language Arts Georgia Standards of Excellence that serve as the basis for the programs now being offered to schools.
The 2019 Diamondback Terrapin (DBT) nesting season officially ended on July 26th. From the first terrapin found on April 7th to the last on July 30th, 485 adult females were encountered while attempting to nest on the Jekyll Island Causeway.
As one of the new educators for the Mosaic Museum, I am very excited to be a part of Jekyll Island. I came into this position with a lot of ideas for programming at the Mosaic, along with the museum’s outdoor space, known as the “Paddock”.
Fall is the time of year that many of us look forward to watching some of our favorite seasonal wildlife species passing through Jekyll as they are moving from one region to another. This year look for migrating butterflies in addition to migratory birds featured overhead as you walk into the lobby of our newly renovated Mosaic Museum.
Rob and Jody Reichel first learned about Jekyll Island Foundation through JIF Executive Director Dion Davis, a close friend of Jody’s parents—Larry and Jann Bennett. Longtime residents of Hilton Head Island, Rob and Jody have four children and four (soon to be five) grandchildren. Recently, Jody told their story to Dion.
How do you make the ‘Best Festival in the Southeast’ even better? With a bit of imagination. And a lot of grits! After earning the top award from the Southeast Festivals and Events Association, the Jekyll Island Authority events staff is working to make the 2019 Shrimp & Grits Festival even more successful. New additions to the festival, which will be held Sept. 20-22, include the ‘Go for the Grits’ 5K race. Participants will literally be going for the grits, with the fastest 200 runners taking home a bag of their own, along with a race t-shirt.
Pappi was a juvenile green sea turtle that stranded on Driftwood Beach on Jekyll Island on July 29, 2018. Pappi was extremely debilitated and had severe fibropapillomatosis (FP) upon initial evaluation.
Migratory birds are front and center, welcoming visitors to the Mosaic - the reimagined museum of Jekyll Island.
We have continued the restoration and improvement of Hollybourne Cottage. Tabby paving is now in place and it restores the carriage drive, also referred to as the “welcoming arms.”
More than a thousand visitors attended grand opening festivities on April 27 for Mosaic, and since then thousands more have experienced the reimagined Jekyll Island museum.
Opportunities abound on Jekyll to establish and promote ecosystem values that better support the creatures that call our island home – those animals that share the landscape with us, and whose forbears shared it with Jekyll Island Club members and with Native Americans.
Money magazine ranked Jekyll Island No. 1 among U.S. travel destinations on its list of “The 20 Best Places to Go in 2019.” This is just one of many accolades earned so far this year.
The waters off Jekyll Island will soon be full of giant marine reptiles. We expect the Loggerhead Sea Turtles in our region to begin crawling onto our beaches in May to lay their nests, something they can do up to eight or nine times in a season.
For years the Ross family gave gifts to our six children and 14 grandchildren. In the months leading up to Christmas 2017, my wife, Queenie and I were discussing our thoughts for the upcoming season of giving. We have been very blessed and so have our children and their children. What can we give them that they could take throughout their life? As we thought about it, we could not come up with a single item that they really needed.
We're forty days and counting to the grand reopening of Mosaic, the Jekyll Island Museum. The revitalized museum reflects a complete metamorphosis of the old stables, museum, and gift shop into a dynamic, interactive, and exciting environment where visitors can experience the beauty, history, nature, and culture of Jekyll Island.
Read the report—Georgia Sea Turtle Center Director and Veterinarian Dr. Terry Norton shares a personal narrative of the success of GTC's work in Costa Rica. Dr. Norton writes, "The Parque Marino is an aquarium in Costa Rica that participates in sea turtle rehabilitation and has acted as the hub of our training programs.
The Jekyll Island Foundation's initiative—to make one of the island’s oldest roads available for all to experience and enjoy—is nearing completion. Working alongside the JIA conservation team, the Foundation saw a great opportunity in this project to create connectivity between the Horton House site and the Horton Pond site. Visitors will be able to park in small lots at either site and experience both while enjoying a walk in the woods along a historic route.
Calling all bibliophiles and book worms! The Second Annual Jekyll Island Book Festival will transform the Beach Village Green into a hub of literary activity on Saturday, April 6, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The rundown, old and tired, exhibits at the stable building are gone as is the old theater that was a building inside a building. Thanks to the hard work of the Jekyll Island Foundation, the Stable building is being transformed and reborn. The work on the structure, such as the installation of the climate control, roof, electrical upgrades, and wallboard are ahead of schedule.
From the first Terrapin found on April 19 to the last on July 20, 492 adult female Diamondback Terrapins were encountered on the Jekyll Island Causeway attempting to nest. Of those 492, 381 individuals were safely worked up and moved off the road– that’s a save rate of about 80 percent.
Jekyll Island is one of only two remaining islands in the state of Georgia that continues to patrol its beaches at night in search of nesting sea turtle. All in all, the patrol team encountered 46 different sea turtle moms depositing their precious eggs beneath the earth. Jekyll Island’s grand total was 121 nests, roughly seven percent of Georgia’s 1,741 total nests.
The Georgia Sea Turtle Center receives hundreds of injured and ill wildlife patients each year. Patients treated at the GSTC include sea turtles, diamondback terrapins, native freshwater and land turtles, alligators, snakes, and birds. Since opening its doors in 2007, the GSTC has successfully treated and released over 2,500 animals.
The Jekyll Island Foundation’s generous donors helped to defray the cost of the architectural and engineering services that were the key element in the success of this important restoration project. Donor contributions helped to insure that Hollybourne Cottage will remain a spectacular architectural example and important historic asset in our National Historic Landmark District for years to come.
This year was a tempestuous season for Jekyll Island’s Wilson’s Plovers with record highs and lows. This season the JIA Conservation Staff identified a Jekyll-record 34 Wilson’s Plover nests. After a rough beginning to the season where fish crows moved in and depredated more than 10 nests, we made the decision to remove all camera monitoring equipment to reduce the chance of attracting more attention by fish crows.
The Foundation’s initiative to make one of the island’s oldest roads available for all to experience and enjoy is nearing completion. Major Horton Road connects the Historic Horton House colonial site on the west side of the island to the Horton Pond natural area on the east side of the island. The road is an unpaved route quite possibly dating back to colonial times when the Horton House was occupied, but first appearing on maps in 1918, during the Jekyll Island Club era.
On November 28, 1858, more than 400 men, women, and children were brought to shore on Jekyll Island. Illegally smuggled into the United States aboard the Wanderer, a luxury yacht turned slave ship, these captives were among the last groups of enslaved Africans sold into slavery in America.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year on Jekyll Island. We have “snow” and “ice skating” and plenty of holiday cheer and fun for the whole family. Here are a few highlights of the season.
It’s February and the month of love. After running our #LOVEJekyllIsland photo contest in the fall, we heard and saw how many of you LOVE Jekyll Island. How exciting! And here are the results…
The 2017 diamondback terrapin nesting season officially came to a close on August 1st!
Jekyll Island Authority’s Georgia Sea Turtle Center was recently involved in a drone building workshop with four of our partner conservation organizations in Costa Rica.
With the 2017 nesting season behind us, Jekyll Island’s Wilson’s Plovers have migrated away from our beautiful beaches.
Wintertime for the research team means we are reminiscing over the girls of summer (sea turtles that is).
This is an exciting week for the Jekyll Island Foundation as we introduce our fresh, new brand identity and website, paving the way for GROWTH!
Wilson’s Plover nesting season is in full swing here on Jekyll Island and the Jekyll Island Authority (JIA) Conservation Department has been busy continuing the advancement of shorebird monitoring efforts with the help of the Jekyll Island Foundation.
Have you been driving down the causeway at high tide lately? Well if so, you have probably seen our newly wrapped Georgia Sea Turtle Center vans out and about.
The Jekyll Island Authority’s (JIA) Georgia Sea Turtle Center (GSTC) is pleased to announce the installation of the brand new Discovery Station exhibit brought to our public through the generous support...
Named the “2017 Best Festival in the Southeast” by Southeast Festival and Events Association, the Jekyll Island Shrimp and Grits Festival combines the classic southern dish with family-friendly entertainment...
Recently, the Jekyll Island Authority (JIA) board approved $1.6M in state bond funds to be used over the next five years...
Jekyll Island is one of only two remaining islands in the state of Georgia that continues to patrol its beaches at night in search of nesting sea turtles. As an ongoing effort that first began in 1958...
Barbara Mayo “Boog” Candler has two very active passions that have run the thread of her life: land and history. Scratch that. Candler has three very active passions...
I grew up in Arizona. Anyone who has been out west, especially the southwest, knows ... IT. IS. HOT!
