Qualla: Jekyll Island: Where Millionaires Wintered and the Fed Was Born

Jekyll Island: Where Millionaires Wintered and the Fed Was Born: Introduction

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jud McCranie, CC BY-SA 4.0. In November 1910, six men boarded a private rail car in New Jersey, using first names only to conceal their identities. They were heading to Jekyll Island, Georgia, to a private club so exclusive that membership required sponsorship by existing members who included Rockefeller, Morgan, Pulitzer, and Vanderbilt. Over ten days of secret meetings, they drafted what would become the Federal Reserve Act. The irony was perfect: the island where America's richest had escaped the masses became the birthplace of the institution that would regulate their banks. Jekyll Island's history encapsulates the Gilded Age - extraordinary wealth, extraordinary exclusivity, and the assumption that the powerful could shape the nation from their private retreats.

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Image: Jud McCranie | CC BY-SA 4.0

Jekyll Island: Where Millionaires Wintered and the Fed Was Born: The Club

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Ebyabe, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Jekyll Island Club was founded in 1886 by a group that represented roughly one-sixth of the world's wealth. They purchased the entire island, built a clubhouse, and established rules of exclusivity that made joining nearly impossible. Membership was limited to 100; the waitin...

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Image: Ebyabe | CC BY-SA 3.0

Jekyll Island: Where Millionaires Wintered and the Fed Was Born: The Meeting

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit gailhampshire from Cradley, Malvern, U.K, CC BY 2.0. The Aldrich-Vreeland Act of 1908 had created a National Monetary Commission to study banking reform after the Panic of 1907 revealed systemic fragility. Senator Nelson Aldrich, the commission chairman, needed a plan. He gathered six men - himself, his assistant, representatives o...

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Image: gailhampshire from Cradley, Malvern, U.K | CC BY 2.0

Jekyll Island: Where Millionaires Wintered and the Fed Was Born: The Decline

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit XeresNelro, CC BY-SA 4.0. The club declined with its members' fortunes. The income tax, enacted the same year as the Federal Reserve Act, began redistributing wealth. The Great Depression devastated even the richest. World War II sealed the club's fate - the island was too vulnerable to German submarines,...

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Image: XeresNelro | CC BY-SA 4.0

Jekyll Island: Where Millionaires Wintered and the Fed Was Born: The Preservation

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Kiran891, CC BY-SA 4.0. Jekyll Island's historic district contains the club compound intact - the Queen Anne clubhouse, the Tudor revival 'cottages,' the servants' quarters and support buildings. The state stabilized structures that would otherwise have collapsed; restoration continues slowly. Faith Cha...

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Image: Kiran891 | CC BY-SA 4.0

Jekyll Island: Where Millionaires Wintered and the Fed Was Born: Visiting Jekyll Island

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Bill Golladay, CC BY-SA 4.0. Jekyll Island is located on Georgia's coast, accessible via causeway from Brunswick. The historic district occupies the island's north end; admission fee required. The Jekyll Island Museum offers orientation and tours of historic cottages (reservations recommended for interior to...

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Image: Bill Golladay | CC BY-SA 4.0