This article attempts to list the oldest extant buildings surviving in the state of Georgia in the United States of America, including the oldest houses in Georgia and any other surviving structures. Some dates are approximate and based upon dendochronology, architectural studies, and historical records. With the founding of Savannah in 1733 as a British colony, Georgia was the last and southernmost of the original Thirteen Colonies to be established. A select few surviving buildings date to this colonial period before the American Revolutionary War. To be listed here a site must:
Building | Image | Location | First built | Use | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Horton House | Jekyll Island | 1743 | House | One of the oldest tabby concrete buildings in Georgia | |
Wild Heron | near Savannah | 1756 | Plantation house | One of the oldest documented houses in Georgia [1] [2] | |
Jerusalem Lutheran Church | Ebenezer | 1769 | Church | Oldest church building in Georgia and the oldest continuous Lutheran congregation in the U.S. [3] | |
Glen Echo | Ellabell | 1773 | House | ||
Eppinger House | Chatham | c. 1776 | House | Believed to be the oldest extant brick building in the state | |
Old Rock House | McDuffie County | 1786 | House | Oldest well-documented house in Georgia [2] | |
Thornton House | Stone Mountain | 1790 (circa) | House | One of the oldest houses in the state | |
Pirates' House | Savannah | 1794 | House | ||
Drouillard-Maupas House | Savannah | 1799 | House | Oldest surviving building in the Thomas Square District, predating the surrounding street grid | |
Springfield Baptist Church | Augusta | 1801 | Church | Oldest surviving building in Augusta, rare example of New England meetinghouse style in Georgia | |
First Presbyterian Church | Augusta | 1804 | Church | Possibly oldest Presbyterian church in Georgia | |
Elisha Winn House | Dacula | 1812 (circa) | House | Oldest surviving house in metro Atlanta. The location of Gwinnett County's first government | |
First Baptist Church | Savannah | 1833 | Church | Oldest surviving church in Savannah | |
Pine Log Methodist Church | Rydal | 1842 | Church | Oldest continuously used church in Northwest Georgia | |
Meadow Nook | Atlanta | 1856 | House | Oldest surviving house in Atlanta in its original location | |
Congregation Mickve Israel | Savannah | 1878 | Synagogue | Oldest synagogue in Georgia | |
Savannah is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the British colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. A strategic port city in the American Revolution and during the American Civil War, Savannah is today an industrial center and an important Atlantic seaport. It is Georgia's fifth-largest city, with a 2020 U.S. Census population of 147,780. The Savannah metropolitan area, Georgia's third-largest, had a 2020 population of 404,798.
A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other vertical surface, and bearing text or an image in relief, or both, to commemorate one or more persons, an event, a former use of the place, or some other thing. Many modern plaques and markers are used to associate the location where the plaque or marker is installed with the person, event, or item commemorated as a place worthy of visit. A monumental plaque or tablet commemorating a deceased person or persons, can be a simple form of church monument. Most modern plaques affixed in this way are commemorative of something, but this is not always the case, and there are purely religious plaques, or those signifying ownership or affiliation of some sort. A plaquette is a small plaque, but in English, unlike many European languages, the term is not typically used for outdoor plaques fixed to walls.
The Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist is a Roman Catholic cathedral and minor basilica in Lafayette Square at 222 East Harris Street, Savannah, Georgia, in the United States. It is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah.
Ebenezer, also known as New Ebenezer, is a ghost town in Effingham County, Georgia, United States, along the banks of Ebenezer Creek. It was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places as Ebenezer Townsite and Jerusalem Lutheran Church in 1974.
The Basilica of the Immaculate Conception is a historic Catholic church in Downtown Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. A parish church in the Diocese of St. Augustine, it represents Jacksonville's oldest Catholic congregation. The current building, dating to 1910, was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1992 as the Church of the Immaculate Conception, and was named a minor basilica in 2013. It is located at 121 East Duval Street; its current pastor is Very Reverend Blair Gaynes.
First African Baptist Church, located in Savannah, Georgia, claims to be derived from the first black Baptist congregation in North America. While it was not officially organized until 1788, it grew from members who founded a congregation in 1773. Its claim of "first" is contested by the Silver Bluff Baptist Church, Aiken County, South Carolina (1773), and the First Baptist Church of Petersburg, Virginia, whose congregation officially organized in 1774.
The Georgia Historical Society (GHS) is a statewide historical society in Georgia. Headquartered in Savannah, Georgia, GHS is one of the oldest historical organizations in the United States. Since 1839, the society has collected, examined, and taught Georgia history through a variety of educational outreach programs, publications, and research services.
The Savannah Historic District is a large urban U.S. historic district that roughly corresponds to the pre-civil war city limits of Savannah, Georgia. The area was declared a National Historic Landmark District in 1966, and is one of the largest urban, community-wide historic preservation districts in the United States. The district was made in recognition of the Oglethorpe Plan, a unique sort of urban planning begun by James Oglethorpe at the city's founding and propagated for the first century of its growth.
The city of Savannah, Georgia, the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, was established in 1733 and was the first colonial and state capital of Georgia. It is known as Georgia's first planned city and attracts millions of visitors, who enjoy the city's architecture and historic structures such as the birthplace of Juliette Gordon Low, the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences, the First African Baptist Church, Congregation Mickve Israel, and the Central of Georgia Railway roundhouse complex. Today, Savannah's downtown area is one of the largest National Historic Landmark Districts in the United States.
The Georgia State Railroad Museum is a museum in Savannah, Georgia located at a historic Central of Georgia Railway site. It includes parts of the Central of Georgia Railway: Savannah Shops and Terminal Facilities National Historic Landmark District. The complex is considered the most complete antebellum railroad complex in the United States. The museum, located at 655 Louisville Road, is part of a historic district included in the National Register of Historic Places.
The Telfair Academy is a historic mansion at 121 Barnard Street in Savannah, Georgia. It was designed by William Jay and built in 1818, and is one of a small number of Jay's surviving works. It is one of three sites owned by Telfair Museums. Originally a family townhouse belonging to the Telfair family, it became a free art museum in 1886, and thus one of the first 10 art museums in America, and the oldest public art museum in the South. Its first director, elected in 1883, was artist Carl Ludwig Brandt, who spent winters in Savannah. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976.
The Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is a Roman Catholic church located at 48 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive SW in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The current church building was completed in 1873 and is the oldest church in Atlanta, as well as one of the oldest standing buildings in the city. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a Roman Catholic church located at 353 Peachtree Street NE in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The current building was completed in 1898. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 and was designated a minor basilica in 2010.
Pirates' House is a historic restaurant and tavern established in 1794 located in downtown Savannah, Georgia, United States. A portion of the structure, known as the Herb House, was built in 1853. The structures either side of it developed between 1794 and 1871. The modern restaurant was founded by Herb Traub and Jim Casey in 1953, and is one of Savannah's most popular tourist attractions.
The following is a timeline of the history of Savannah, Georgia, United States.
First Baptist Church is a historic congregation in Savannah, Georgia, which was first established in 1800. Today, the congregation worships in a Greek-Revival church building on Bull Street, on the western side of Chippewa Square in the historic district of Savannah. This location has been the congregation’s home since 1833 and the building is architecturally significant, being the oldest surviving church building in Savannah.
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