Old Harbor Light

Old Harbor Light is a Georgia historical marker in Savannah., Chatham County, dedicated 1958.

Located near Old Harbor Light in park at Bay and East Broad Sts., Savannah.

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This beacon light was erected by the federal government in 1858 as an aid to navigation of the Savannah River. Standing 77 feet above the river level and illuminated by gas, it served for several years as a guide to vessels passing over the hulls of ships that the British scuttled in 1779 to close the harbor to the French naval forces. During the Siege of Savannah that year by the French and Americans the warship Truite, commanded by the Count de Chastenet de Puysegur, shelled this area of Savannah from her anchorage in Back River opposite this point. The development of this portion of Emmet Park as a garden area was a project of the Trustees Garden Club during the centennial year of the erection of the "Old Harbor Light."

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 Old Harbor Light, 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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The marker isn't at this spotOur pin may be off. If you know where it stands, tell us.I couldn't find the markerWe record what the source recorded. We have not been to look.The sign reads differentlyThat would be an error, and we can pass it to the program.The historical map looks wrongThe period map behind the pin, not the marker itself.Something else

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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

The Trustees' Gardenunder 1 mi
Jane Cuylerunder 1 mi
Savannah's Irish and Robert Emmet Parkunder 1 mi
The Berrien House (c. 1791)under 1 mi