RICHARD J. REYNOLDS:

In 1933 Sapelo was purchased by Richard J. Reynolds of North Carolina, an heir of Reynolds Tobacco of Winston-Salem. A Lieutenant Commander in the Navy during the war, Reynolds was a private man who believed in using his wealth to help others. He provided a gymnasium for Todd Grant School in Darien and set up a Boy’s Camp on Sapelo, intended for the underprivileged children of the district.

The South End House was decorated with murals by Meneboni. The ballroom with its circus decorations and tented ceiling and the gentle jungle decorations of the room overlooking the indoor pool still provide delight.

New buildings were added to the south end. Reynolds built two elaborate boathouses and removed earlier farm buildings replacing them with a quadrangle of much more glamorous coach houses, dairy and house barns, and a second story picture theater. These buildings surrounded an unusual “turkey fountain” decorated with cast cement turkeys. This whole assemblage is the complex now housing the principal activities of the Marine Institute. Reynolds also built seven additional houses in the south end area. These, together with the earlier houses built by Coffin, now house Marine Institute faculty.

During his tenure of the island Reynolds was involved in some experiments of his own, introducing Brahmin cattle and diking some marsh areas in order to ascertain their potential for agriculture.

It was Reynolds’ profound interest in using the island for basic research which led to the formation of the Georgia Agricultural and Farming Research Foundation in 1949. The charter was amended in 1959 to rename the organization the Sapelo Island Research Foundation, which was more appropriate in light of the activities it supported. Richard Reynolds continued to be a benefactor, and also a host and sponsor for conferences in marine and estuarine science. After his death in 1964, the Foundation established by him continued to assist the Marine Institute’s endeavors.