Throwback Thursday! Check out this great picture of the Dolphin Club and Motor Hotel cira 1959. The hotel was built by African-American businessmen and community leaders for African American visitors to Jekyll Island. The opening of the hotel was marked by a ceremony on July 31, 1959. In the early 1960s, a room at the motel cost $8.50. Families and groups traveled by the busload to the facilities during the early 1960s. With the enactment of desegregation laws, the Dolphin Club and Motor Hotel was closed in June 1966 due to lack of business. The facilities were then used as part of the Jekyll Island Group Camp and Youth Center, and the hotel structure provided lodging to numerous schools, church groups, and other organizations during the late 1960s and 1970s. In 1983, the facilities were leased to the Georgia 4-H program for use as a 4-H Summer Camp. In 1987, the Jekyll Island 4-H Center was expanded to include a year round environmental education program. In February 2003, the hotel, now used as the dormitory, underwent major renovations, including reorienting the building so that the doors exit into the courtyard. (historic photo courtesy of the Jekyll Island Museum and history information from Images of America: Jekyll Island State Park by Tyler E. Bagwell)
Posted on: Thu, 10 Apr 2014 19:40:38 +0000
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