Georgia Historical Society: Founded 1839

Georgia Historical Society: Founded 1839 is a Georgia historical marker in Chatham County, dedicated 1953.

At Hodgson Hall, at the intersection of Gaston and Whitaker Streets in Savannah.

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The Georgia Historical Society, founded May 24, 1839, is one of the oldest historical societies in the country. Among its founders were L.K. Tefft, the noted autograph collector; William Bacon Stevens, historian, physician and prelate; and Dr. Richard D. Arnold, who as Mayor of Savannah formally surrendered the City to Gen. Sherman in 1864. The Presidents of the Society have included John Macpherson Berrien, Attorney General under President Jackson and United States Senator; James M. Wayne, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States; and Henry R. Jackson, jurist, soldier, diplomat and poet. Hodgson Hall, the home of the Society, is a repository for books, newspapers and manuscripts relating to the history of Georgia. Dedicated in 1876, the building was a gift of Margaret Telfair Hodgson and Mary Telfair as a memorial to William Brown Hodgson, the distinguished scholar of Oriental languages and United States Dragoman and Consul to the Barbary States and Turkey.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1842 · Georgia. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1856 · The City Of Savannah Georgia. (with) The City of Charleston South Carolina. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1863 · Sketch of sea coast of South Carolina and Georgia from Bull's Bay to Ossabaw Sound (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
1865 · Savannah, Georgia. Charleston, South Carolina. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1874 · Plache VII. Sea Islands. (Carolina du Sud). (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

Plache VII. Sea Islands. (Carolina du Sud), 1874, covering the location of Georgia Historical Society: Founded 1839, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Plache VII. Sea Islands. (Carolina du Sud), 1874, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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This historical marker is part of the Georgia Historical Marker Program and was erected by the Georgia Historical Commission. Marker texts and locations come from the Society's own marker database.

More markers nearby

Jepson House Education Centersame spot
Former Home Henry R. Jackson: Union Army Headquarters, 1865under 1 mi
Pulaski Monumentunder 1 mi
Louis B. Toomer: Founder of Carver State Bankunder 1 mi

On the National Register nearby

W. B. Hodgson Hall90 ft

Places within about 300 feet of this marker that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A nearby listing is not always the marker's own subject.