Jekyll Island has a diverse and significant history.  Historians think the first occupants of the island were most likely small groups of Native American hunter-gathers, sometime around 2,500 B.C.  Most likely these small family units settled on Jekyll Island on a seasonal basis.  Much like our Villas by the Sea “Snow Birds” do today!

The natural environment of Jekyll Island is a magnolia-lined oak forest canopy with a forest floor dominated by palmettos and scruff oaks.  Animals found on the island include white-tail deer, raccoons, rabbits and squirrels.  The tidal creeks and streams of the salt marsh provide a variety of resources, including seasonal fish and shell fish. The Spanish name for Jekyll was Isla de Ballenas, “Island of Whales” because of the abundance of “right whales” off the island to the Gray’s Reef area.

Between 1879 -1930 the island saw what some refer to as "the gilded decades" when only a few select wealthy families used the Island as their winter homes.

Today, the Jekyll Island National Historic Landmark District is a 240-acre, riverfront compound and one of the largest, ongoing restoration projects in the southeastern United States.

To read a first-person account of the magic of Jekyll Island, please see Dan Kenneth Phillips' blog.

Click here for more information regarding the history of Jekyll Island.