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Telfair Family Mansion: (1818 - William Jay, Architect)

Telfair Family Mansion: (1818 - William Jay, Architect) is a Georgia historical marker in Chatham County, dedicated 1954.

On Barnard and President Streets in Savannah.

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This building is one of the city's outstanding examples of Regency architecture. The main floor and basement kitchens are maintained as a historic house museum. The rotunda and west wing are later additions. It was left by Savannah's outstanding philanthropist, Mary Telfair (1789-1875), relative of William Gibbons, friend of Peter Cooper, last surviving child of Edward Telfair (Revolutionary patriot and early Governor of Georgia) to house the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences which was founded under her will. Notable among her other public bequests are the Telfair Hospital, the interiors of the Independent Presbyterian Church, and (with her sister) Hodgson Hall. In the Colonial and Revolutionary periods "Government house", the residence of the Royal Governors of Georgia, stood on this site. Here on the night of January 18, 1776, in one of the dramatic episodes of the American Revolution, Major Joseph Habersham, commanding a small force of patriots walked alone into the chamber where Governor Wright was conferring with his Council and announced, "Sir James, you are my prisoner." Habersham later became Postmaster-General of the United States.

Maps this old were drawn largely by eye, so places on them can sit miles from where they really are. The pin is ours and marks the marker's location today.

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

1764 · Carte de la Nouvelle Georgie (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1776 · A General Map of the Southern British Colonies, in America. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1778 · Parte Orientale della Florida, della Giorgia, e Carolina Meridionale. Fogl. XI (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1779 · Savannah and its environs (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
1795 · State of South Carolina. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

Parte Orientale della Florida, della Giorgia, e Carolina Meridionale. Fogl. XI, 1778, covering the location of Telfair Family Mansion: (1818 - William Jay, Architect), with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Parte Orientale della Florida, della Giorgia, e Carolina Meridionale. Fogl. XI, 1778, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

Example

For example, one family's tree showed the Articles of Confederation marker in Pennsylvania standing under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s.

What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

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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

Telfair Academy of Arts & Sciencessame spot
Trinity Methodist Churchsame spot
The Montmollin Building and Bryan Schoolunder 1 mi
Wright Squareunder 1 mi

On the National Register nearby

Telfair Academy90 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.