January 18: Wandering around the Historic District . . .
Read MoreThe Sidney Lanier Bridge is visible in the distance. If Bing Maps is right, the bridge is just over 5 miles away to the northwest from where I'm standing. While it can't get me as close as the 35x optical zoom of the old SX40HS would, the new SL3's 250 mm lens gets me in far enough with great quality.
Prior to 1954, the only way onto/off of Jekyll Island was via boat. That all changed on December 11th of that year when the Jekyll Island Causeway, (also known as the Downing Musgrove Causeway), and the M. E. Thompson Bridge opened Jekyll Island to the public. The original bridge was a drawbridge design that was eventually replaced by the current structure. Parts of the old bridge remain for use as fishing and wildlife viewing areas.
Industrialist Gordon McKay developed and manufactured a sewing machine that greatly simplified the process of manufacturing a shoe, (i.e. attaching the sole to the upper). After acquiring a patent, McKay made a fortune supplying the Union Army with footwear during the Civil War. He became a member of the Jekyll Island Club in 1891 and built McKay Cottage in 1892.
Rockefeller began personalizing Indian Mound by adding a living room, master suite, and huge wrap-around porch. By the time Rockefeller was done, Indian Mound had become a 25 room mansion.
After the Club era, Indian Mound became the Jekyll Island Museum. A two-year restoration was completed in 2010. Today, Indian Mound is used as a meeting/event facility.For some strange reason, I left my 250 mm lens in place that I had been using while walking along the riverfront. It works great for looking out over the saltwater marsh, but not so good for closer shots. Even so, stitching the two previous photos together produced a good panorama shot of the whole building.
Frank H. Goodyear's empire originated in the timber industry and expanded into railroading in Pennsylvania and western New York. Frank and his brother, Charles, expanded southward when they purchased 300,000 acres of white pine in eastern Louisiana and opened the Great Southern Lumber Company in 1902. Needing a place to house the company's workers, the Goodyears created an entire town, Bogalusa, Louisiana.
Goodyear became a member of the Jekyll Island Club that same year. His private cottage was completed in 1906. Unfortunately, Goodyear's time in his new cottage was very short. He died the following year in 1907.Once past Moss Cottage and a neighboring large vacant lot, a walkway circles pedestrians back toward Old Plantation Road. That vacant lot, (that I somehow failed to take a picture of * * * Facepalm.jpg * * *), was once home to the Club's youngest charter member, 25-year-old Walter Rogers Furness who built Furness Cottage in 1890.
From here, the story becomes quite . . . mobile . . . in nature. Furness sold his cottage in 1896 to fellow Club charter member newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer, (i.e. the Pulitzer Prize). Pulitzer stayed in the cottage a very short time, and then moved it roughly 125 feet to make room for a much larger cottage he was planning to build. The Furness building then became quarters for the Pulitzer family staff.
The cottage was moved again when Buffalo, NY coal magnate John J. Albright bought the property from the Pulitzer family in 1914. The cottage was moved a third time to its current location at the southern end of Old Plantation Road when Frank Goodyear bought it in 1929. The original physical building still exists today. But the original site of the building, next to Moss Cottage, is now vacant.
Once past the vacant lot, we stayed on the walkway and circled around heading back toward Old Plantation Road. This pedestrian-only walkway is lined with giant Live Oak trees.We turned onto Pier Road which runs east-west through the center of the Historic District. In its heyday, the Jekyll Island Club mimicked a small city. Various support services were needed, many of which were located along Pier Road. As the name implies, Pier Road eventually leads to the wharf area where supplies, and residents with large private boats, arrived at the island. Today, Pier Road is home to various Island shoppes. The Commissary, seen on the right in the photo above, used to be the General Store for the Club members. Georgia-based foods can be purchased there today.