For my friends who have never visited Jekyll Island, the holiday season is the perfect time to visit. Take a ride on Jekyll’s Holly Jolly Trolley to see over half a million lights around the island. There are lights from the Historic District to Beach Village. Trolley riders will enjoy festive holiday beverages, and sing along to Jingle Bells and other carols.

Aside from the holiday spirit, there is a lot of history on Jekyll for you to see and enjoy. It’s also a place filled with natural wonders. The seven beaches are unique. The most unusual being Driftwood Beach. You walk through a small tunnel formed by small beach trees and scrub bushes and enter into a view unlike any other. The ancient driftwood that has been on this beach for decades form strange shapes like giant petrified sculptures.

The Island’s Historic District, that was once a millionaires’ playground, is decorated as it might have been in the Gilded Era. The former clubhouse, now Jekyll Island Club Resort, and “cottages” built by the millionaires who bought this island in 1886 sparkle with lights and holiday cheer.

Mosaic, Jekyll’s history museum, it a good place to start. It recalls events from the culture of the Timucuans, inhabitants before the first white settlers came. It tells the history of the island, from the earlier settlers to the millionaire era. William Horton was the first owner of the island. His home, The Horton House, was built it in1743. It is one of the oldest tabby buildings in Georgia. Well worth the drive to view it.

Then came the DuBignon Family, from 1790 to 1886. At first, they lived in the Horton House from 1790 until the mid-1800s and then built a home in what later became the millionaires’ village. The cemetery where they are buried is across the street from the house.

The Wanderer, the last known slave ship to bring slaves illegally into the country, has exhibits telling that sad story. The Wanderer Trail, located outside the village, also tells the story of that fateful voyage.

The museum recalls some modern events in Jekyll history, like how the island became the Jekyll Island Club, exclusive playground of 100 of America’s most wealthy. It records the first transcontinental telephone call in 1915, when Alexander Graham Bell, calling from New York, talked to his assistant, Thomas Watson, in San Francisco. AT&T President Theodore Vail was included in the call from Jekyll Island, and the President, Woodrow Wilson, spoke from the White House. 

Faith Chapel has a famous Tiffany window. “David Set Singers Before the Lord,” that is celebrating its 100th birthday this year.

The millionaires’ cottages are all decorated. Indian Mound, winter retreat once owned by William Rockefeller, is a nine bedroom, nine bath, with servant quarters, mansion. They framed it with lights.


The DuBignon Home, built in 1884 by John Eugene DuBignon, the man who sold the Island to the Club is the simplest of the cottages. They decorated it in garlands and poinsettias.

The Jekyll Island Club Resort, the original clubhouse, has more elaborate decorations, both inside and out.
Even what were the simple buildings in the servant’s area have been converted to shops like the Commissary. It served much the same purpose in the Club era as general store and is decorated in Victorian style.

Jekyll Island is a place you will enjoy any time of year.