Summer 2016 | Sea Island Life Magazine Spring/Summer 2016 | Page 58
Regal
Retreat
SEA ISLAND’S ARCHIVES REVEAL SNAPSHOTS
OF MILESTONE VISITS FROM AMERICA’S FIRST
FAMILIES AND FOREIGN DIGNITARIES.
BY GWYN HERBEIN
W
hen Sea Island opened in 1928, the resort
offered a lighthearted coastal escape
from the rigors of city life. Families could
reconnect over time-tested activities set
among the natural beauty of the unspoiled Georgia
coastline. Now, more than 80 years after its debut, the
resort still beckons families to experience the same
timeless delights. Unsurprisingly, the elegance of the
Island has appealed to many notable names over the
decades. In addition to numerous presidential families,
esteemed leaders of foreign countries have also visited
in both personal and professional capacities. Read on
for a journey through time, courtesy of the Island’s
storied archives.
Early Traditions
In the 1930s, Sea Island founder and automobile magnate
Howard Coffin and his wife, Matilda, hosted then-President Calvin Coolidge and his wife, Grace, at their home
at Sapelo Island, an island north of Sea Island. The rebuilt
antebellum mansion provided a home base for the foursome as they ventured to sites along the coast. Coolidge
planted the first commemorative oak at The Cloister during
that visit, starting a custom that would include many other
recognizable names over the years. According to historians
at Sea Island, the oak that Coolidge planted was a water
oak, not a live oak—as tradition dictates; the substitution
was inadvertently made while the Island’s landscape architect was out of town. The tree was subsequently replaced
with the correct, longer-living oak.
Nearly 20 years after the first tree took root, another American
dignitary left his mark here. In 1946, then-General Dwight
Eisenhower visited Sea Island with his wife, Mamie, while he was
serving as President Harry Truman’s Chief of Staff of the Army.
Eisenhower was elected to the presidency in 1952, and a live oak
was planted in his honor to commemorate his visit.
58 SEA ISL AND LIFE | SPRING/SUMMER 2016
Above: Then-General
Dwight Eisenhower
and his wife, Mamie;
opposite page:
Former President
Calvin Coolidge
with the Coffins on
Sapelo Island