Beach Institute

Beach Institute is a Georgia historical marker in Chatham County, dedicated 2008.

At 502 East Harris Street in Savannah.

Get directions ↗Start a road trip Historical trails

The Beach Institute began in 1867 as the first school in Savannah erected specifically for the education of African Americans. It was named for Alfred Ely Beach, benefactor and editor of Scientific American. Following the Civil War, the Freedmen's Bureau, American Missionary Society, and the Savannah Educational Association purchased land and with the labor of newly freed slaves built this school and a teachers' house on this site. The Beach Institute, birthplace of First Congregational Church and the Savannah Boys Club, closed in 1919. Operated by the King-Tisdell Cottage Foundation since 1989, today the Beach Institute serves as an educational and cultural center.

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

1852 · Georgia, Florida. (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 Beach Institute, 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 Society. Marker texts and locations come from the Society's own marker database.

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