Project Stuckey's

February 2008 Bulletin; Development Concept not dead on Jekyll; action needed ASAP to get Georgia General Assembly to protect beach from losing to upscale development. Visit http:\\www.savejekyllisland.org.

The Stuckey's Carriage Inn on Jekyll Island

1960-2005
Demolished 2007

Introduction:
The Stuckey's Carriage Inn was a motel  on Jekyll Island, Georgia off the coast of Brunswick, GA and near the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.  It opened, according to holidaywatchdog.com, in 1960.  This is not too long before the Buccaneer opened in 1961.

Who was Stuckey? Stuckey was a family who operated a series of candy stores that morphed into gas stations and restaurants.  Headquarters for the firm is in Eastman, Georgia.  In fact there was a Carriage Inn, which featured a motel, in Eastman, GA.  Jekyll Island, when the State of Georgia built a bridge in 1954, would soon see new motels pop up.  The only lodging before the state's acquisition was the Jekyll Island Club. This was too pricey for the "average" person for whom Jekyll Island was purchased.  Thus there was a market provided that only 35% of the island was developed.  


Aerial view prior to demolition as viewed from the Florida side.

History

The main features of the Stuckey's Carriage Inn were said to be a swimming pool shaped in the state of Georgia and a restaurant on the top floor. This offered a view of the  ocean with the guest check-in above.  For some odd reason the motel's front had no frontal view.   It was a brick front offering more mystery than attraction.  Stuckey's suffered from being built way down Beachview Drive to the right of the causeway's intersection.  The rooms were on three stories and the whole complex was shaped in the form of a T.  If you were on the vertical part of the T you saw the woods.  Those in the horizontal portion saw the ocean.


The oddest event of Stuckey's Carriage Inn history took place in the late Sixties.  A woman in room 219, according to Stuckey's Carriage Inn et al vs. Phillips 

The mid-Seventies saw its name change to the Atlantic Carriage Inn. In 1976 the motel closed for several years and reopened as the Ramada Inn.  I visited the restaurant and found its offerings unremarkable.  The dining area was on the ground floor.   It had a "Mr. Hyde's Sports Bar" in both this and its reincarnation as the Georgia Coast Inn.  It gained a stucco front in the 1980's but this wouldn't  save the inn from closure in 2005.

Holidaywatchdog.com described the Ramada Inn as such:

I took several pictures from the beach and the parking area.  Here are a few shots:



July 2006 shot of front through the screen fence.  This building begs inquisitiveness


Another July 2006 shot; this one is of the sign for the inn and sports bar.


As you can see some of the blinds are flying out of the broken windows.  I wanted to get closer and maybe enter the motel area but the beach patrol came.  They would have been upset at me walking on the dunes as much as breaching the fence and trespassing.  So I stood there and enjoyed what I could.  Another gentleman took some shots and posted them on  Flickr.com

When I returned in the spring of 2007 I found the motel completely gone.  All that remained were spotlights for the palms, the palms themselves, the parking lot and driveway, and a walkway to the beach.  There were sand pits where the recreation area and swimming pool once lay.



Here is the beachwalk minus the bridge across the dunes


Epilogue

What motel will appear in the future I do not know.  The Holiday Inn was torn down when I arrived in 2007 and it is rumored The Buccaneer is next to fall.  Workers were renovating The Wanderer (renamed Comfort Inn then Oceanside Inn) .  The staff did not know if the motel were to be demolished later on.  The island is in a crunch for beds to accommodate conventioneers.  The State of Georgia wants to refurbish the facilities.  A controversial plan to develop more of the island and build more upscale motels was killed.  Hopefully the loss of the old  motels was not in vain and bigger facilities will sprout up. I hated it that I didn't get a chance to know the Stuckey's Inn better than I did.  It reminded me of a lady with an odd stare who did and didn't want you to find out about her.

I plan to have more information as time permits; however keep in mind there isn't much more to be done to this page as this motel has fallen forever.

Links to favorites:
Unofficial Stuckey's History Website
www.deadmalls.com
Georgia Retail Memories


Mail me for further information with "Stuckey's Inn" in the subject line.  I look forward to your comments and submissions.

2007 (June 25 version)