In 1908 the Izaak Walton Club was founded, solidifying Useppa’s important role in the area’s world-famous tarpon fishing industry, and for some years Useppa served as the private vacation estate of Collier.

Notables who frequented Useppa during the “Golden Years” included the Vanderbilts, Herbert Hoover, Rockefellers, Rothschilds, Gloria Swanson, Shirley Temple and Zane Grey.

After Collier’s era, the island was abandoned and was later used by the U.S. government as a base for the Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba.