[4] The University of Georgia Marine Institute,[5] which is focused on research and education, is located on 1,500 acres (610 ha) on the south end of the island.

In 2012, McIntosh County property tax appraisers notified Hog Hammock residents of huge property tax increases, even though there was no longer a school on the island and the DNR manages and pays for water, trash removal, and the ferry and barge system.

In 2013, a legal fight over the sudden tax hikes was well underway, with some residents claiming they would be driven from land they had owned for many generations for the benefit of mainlanders who would acquire more of Hog Hammock's homes.

The major paved roadways on the island were unmaintained by the county and had significant issues with flooding and overflowing ditch networks.

A resolution was agreed, on which the county was to pay for new equipment for a volunteer fire station and revamp an aging building for a community center.

This came after a local non-descendant, Bill Hodges, who is also on the McIntosh County Industry and Development Authority Board,[10] filed a complaint that he could not build a large enough vacation home for his family.

Numerous complaints were heard, including officials from the state about the lack of capacity in the water system for larger homes, from residents about the changing historic nature of the island and the tax hike that would result, and from scientists stating the flooding would increase in the community from the added weight of larger homes, and from religious leaders who stated Hog Hammock was a religious center for Muslim and Christians alike and allowing large vacation homes and the other proposed changes would result in less affordable options for current historic homeowners.

They reassured the community several times stating that the commission would return it back to them to fix the issues, but they had to go ahead with it as written for now.

In a controversial move, Commissioner David Stevens ended the meeting after the vote by saying that “this new generation [on Sapelo] just didn’t have it” and insulted the community saying this was their own fault for “being greedy” and selling their land to developers to begin with.

[11] On October 19, 2024, a gangway to a ferry at a marina collapsed during a Sapelo Island Cultural Day celebration, killing 7 and injuring another 8.

In the early 19th century, Thomas Spalding, a future senator and U.S. Representative, bought the island and developed it into a plantation, selling live oak for shipbuilding, introducing irrigation ditches, and cultivating Sea Island Cotton, corn, and sugar cane.

[16] Spalding opposed the abolition of slavery, and he died in 1851 returning from a convention to assert Georgia's position on the matter.

By the early 20th century, the International Road Races were attracting notables from the motor world to Savannah, Georgia.

Miles of shell-covered roads were laid, creeks were bridged, old fields were cultivated and large tracts were set aside for cattle grazing.

The Coffins also renovated and enlarged the Spalding house, creating an island paradise unsurpassed on the coast.

In 1923, Sapelo owner Howard Coffin introduced imported chachalacas from Mexico to diversify the game bird population for his hunting pals.

These chicken-like birds have established a stable, non-native population of 30 to 40 that at times has spread to neighboring islands.

He later funded the research of Eugene Odum, whose 1958 paper The Ecology of a Salt Marsh won wide acclaim in scientific circles.

Over the last 2.5 million years (Neogene and Quaternary Periods), sea-level fall occurred in response to growth of the Northern Hemisphere ice cap.

Additionally, many island residents offer private tours, which can often be customized to fit the interests of individual tourists.

[25] Singer Larry Jon Wilson has recorded a song titled "Sapelo", which is about the island on the album Testifying: The Country Soul Revue.

An episode of Season 6 of the show Dirty Jobs featured the termite research program at the University of Georgia Marine Institute on Sapelo Island.