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R.J.
Reynolds Mansion on Sapelo Island
Description:
Sapelo Island is one of the many barrier islands on the coast of Georgia.
However, Sapelo Island is different than every other island because of the
Gullah-Geechee community present on the island at Hog Hammock and the island
was owned by three rich figures in history. The island was first owned by
Thomas Spalding, the man who started a plantation on the island and got the
ancestors of the current Gullah-Geechee community on Sapelo. The second owner
was Howard Coffin, who developed the rich and wealthy Sea Island. The last
owner was R.J. Reynolds, the heir to the tobacco industry in Winston-Salem.
There is a gorgeous mansion on the south end of the island built by Thomas
Spalding. "Spalding built a palatial home to withstand hurricanes and the
test of time" (Darien brochure.) The outside of the mansion is beautiful
but unfortunately, we couldn't see the inside.
Reflection:
Besides the gorgeous mansion, most of the houses on Sapelo Island belong to
either low or lower middle class families. The population of Hog Hammock is
only seventy people and seeing their tiny community was bittersweet to me. The
reason being is because I love the laid back and relaxed feel of Hog Hammock
but I also do not want to live a life where I am struggling everyday
financially to provide for my family. Seeing Hog Hammock proved to myself that
I do not want my family or myself to ever have to worry about money but I also
want to live in a community that is relaxed and laid back such as Hog Hammock.
And even though I do not want to live in a place like Hog Hammock, I respect
the citizens because they are trying to preserve their heritage and history by
living in the same place and living a simple lifestyle based off of religion
just like previous generations before them. I do not want to be prideful and
use my wealth that God has blessed me on material things such as the Mansion.
Even if that Mansion is gorgeous, I do not want to be remembered for my
materialistic things but my faith in God.
Analysis:
The Mansion is important to the history of Sapelo Island because the Mansion
was the centerpiece of the island after the plantations on the island went
away. Throughout the islands history, three separate United States Presidents
have visited the Mansion and they are: Woodrow Wilson, Herbert Hoover, and
Jimmy Carter. R.J. Reynolds used the Mansion as a vacation spot and he later
decided to give Georgia University some land and buildings near the Mansion
where students could live and study marine biology. The University of Georgia
still uses those same buildings to allow undergraduate and graduate students to
study marine biology. The Mansion is the focal point of the island outside Hog
Hammock and without the Mansion, Sapelo Island may not be as much of a tourist
destination as it is today. Overall, the Mansion is a gorgeous structure that
has had famous people walk it is halls but the Mansion has also brought Sapelo
Island tourist and money to help the island financially.
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