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Savannah: Colonial Capital and Birthplace of Representative Government in Georgia

Savannah: Colonial Capital and Birthplace of Representative Government in Georgia is a Georgia historical marker in Chatham County, dedicated 2008.

The Southeast corner of Reynolds Square.

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In March 1750, the Georgia Trustees in London resolved to allow colonists to elect a representative assembly to meet in Savannah, Georgia's colonial capital. Sixteen delegates met on January 15, 1751, for a twenty-four-day session. Representative government continued in 1755 in the Commons House of Assembly, which by 1770 began meeting in a building on the southeast trust lot of Reynolds Square. In 1777, the new state constitution provided for an elected House of Assembly. The Georgia constitution of 1789 expanded the legislature to two houses, known as the General Assembly.

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

1746 · A Map of the British Empire in America. (Sheet 10). (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1764 · Carte de la Nouvelle Georgie (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)
1865 · Savannah, Georgia. Charleston, South Carolina. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

A Map of the British Empire in America. (Sheet 10), 1746, covering the location of Savannah: Colonial Capital and Birthplace of Representative Government in Georgia, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — A Map of the British Empire in America. (Sheet 10), 1746, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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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 Society. Marker texts and locations come from the Society's own marker database.

More markers nearby

John Wesley, 1703-1791: Founder of Methodismsame spot
The Georgia Civil Rights Trail: The Savannah Protest Movementunder 1 mi
The Berrien House (c. 1791)under 1 mi
Old Savannah Cotton Exchangeunder 1 mi

On the National Register nearby

Oliver Sturges House290 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.