Before the bridge, this island raised cattle.
In 1936 a great-grandson of the man who built the Brooklyn Bridge sailed a three-masted schooner to the north end of Skidaway Island and started breeding prize Angus cattle.
September 14, 2026 · The Landings on Skidaway Island
Long before the causeway and the bridge, the north end of Skidaway Island was a working cattle ranch called Modena Plantation.
A note on the geography, because the names still cause confusion: Modena is the north end of the island. That is not The Landings. Today it is the University of Georgia's Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, alongside Modena, a separate gated community that is on Skidaway but is not part of The Landings.
The family arrived by schooner
Robert and Dorothy Roebling bought the property from Ralph Isham, their neighbour in Princeton, New Jersey, who had been using it as a hunting preserve. By the spring of 1936 the Roeblings and their five children were living aboard their three-masted schooner, the Black Douglas, tied up at what is now the institute's north pier.
Robert was the great-grandson of John A. Roebling, the engineer behind the Brooklyn Bridge. The family lived on the boat for years while the house on shore went up, and only finished it in early 1941, after the Black Douglas was sold to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and they had nowhere else to sleep.
A round barn, built for cattle
The Roeblings raised Hampshire hogs and Aberdeen Angus cattle here, and built an unusual round show barn out of concrete and steel so slow-moving cattle could be paraded past buyers at the annual auction. Robert designed it himself and set a metal needle in the compass rose pointing to true north.
Their daughter Ellin was married in that barn in 1950, with champagne on ice in the feed troughs. The wedding was covered by Town & Country.
What it is today
In 1968 the family gave the land to the State of Georgia. That gift, combined with acreage donated by Union Camp, created the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, now part of the University of Georgia and still operating on the island.
The round barn is still standing. It was rebuilt into classrooms and laboratories, officially the Ocean Sciences Instructional Center, and everyone on the island simply calls it The Barn.
The name never left either. That whole end of Skidaway is still called Modena.
Questions people ask
Was there really a cattle ranch on Skidaway Island?
Yes. The north end of Skidaway Island was Modena Plantation, a cattle and hog breeding ranch run by Robert and Dorothy Roebling from 1936 until they donated the land to the State of Georgia in 1968.
Is Modena part of The Landings?
No. Modena is the north end of Skidaway Island, now the site of UGA's Skidaway Institute of Oceanography and Modena, a separate gated community. Both are on Skidaway Island but neither is part of The Landings.
Who were the Roeblings of Skidaway Island?
Robert C. Roebling was the great-grandson of John A. Roebling, the engineer behind the Brooklyn Bridge. He and his wife Dorothy moved their family from New Jersey to Skidaway Island in 1936 aboard the schooner Black Douglas and bred prize Angus cattle there.
Is the Roebling cattle barn still standing?
Yes. The round concrete show barn built around 1947 still stands on the UGA Skidaway Institute of Oceanography campus. It was converted into the Ocean Sciences Instructional Center and is known locally as The Barn.
Sources
The Landings Insider Report
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