Telfair Academy of Arts & Sciences

Telfair Academy of Arts & Sciences is a Georgia historical marker in Chatham County, dedicated 1956.

On Barnard and President Streets in Savannah.

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Created under the Will of Miss Mary Telfair (c. 1789-1875), the Telfair Academy of Arts & Sciences opened as the first public art museum in the Southeast with a preliminary private showing, February 12, 1885. After extensive remodeling and additions, with Detlef Lienau of New York as architect, the building was formally dedicated May 3, 1886. Among the prominent persons who attended the dedication were: Jefferson Davis and his daughter, Winnie Davis; Charles C. Jones, historian; Gen. A.R. Lawton; Gen. Henry R. Jackson; Gen. G. Moxley Sorrel; Col. John Screven and Col. Charles Olmstead. Carl L. Brandt, N.A., served as Telfair's first Director, 1883-1905.

TodayHistorical map

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Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library

Historical maps covering this location

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 Academy of Arts & Sciences, 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.

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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 or the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Marker texts and locations come from the Society's own marker database.

More markers nearby

Trinity Methodist Churchsame spot
Telfair Family Mansion: (1818 - William Jay, Architect)same spot
The Montmollin Building and Bryan Schoolunder 1 mi
Wright Squareunder 1 mi

On the National Register nearby

Telfair Academy150 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.