Jekyll Island Club Hotel

A wintertime retreat created in 1886 for the Rockefellers, Morgans, Vanderbilts, and Pulitzers - families who collectively owned one-sixth of the world's wealth. The state of Georgia purchased the island in 1947.

The Jekyll Island Club was founded in 1886 when wealthy industrialists purchased the island for $125,000 as a private hunting and recreation retreat. Members included the Morgans, Rockefellers, and Vanderbilts - it was called "the richest, most exclusive, and most inaccessible club in the world." The iconic clubhouse with its signature turret was completed in 1888.

General Lloyd Aspinwall was a founding member poised to serve as the club's first president, but he died suddenly in 1886 before the buildings were finished. Ever since, guests report seeing the General walking around his favorite veranda, hands clasped behind him in classic military posture, forever awaiting the club he helped create.

Railroad magnate Samuel Spencer died in a tragic irony - killed in a crash on one of his own trains in 1906. His ghost appears in the club's annex, where he's known to sip guests' coffee and browse their newspapers while they're out of their rooms.

Perhaps the most famous spirit is J.P. Morgan, the legendary financier who owned a third-floor condominium overlooking the Jekyll River. Guests in his former apartment report the unmistakable smell of his famous cigars wafting through the rooms. Morgan's spirit still enjoys watching the river from his balcony, cigar in hand.

At Indian Mound Cottage, purchased by William Rockefeller in 1905, glimpses of the Rockefeller family have been spotted moving through the expansive home - sometimes still dressed in their formal evening wear. A ghostly bellman from the 1920s knocks on second-floor room doors, offering to press suits for grooms before their weddings.

Historic Hotels of America has repeatedly named the Jekyll Island Club Resort to their Top 25 Most Haunted Hotels list.