Christ Church: The Mother Church of Georgia

Christ Church: The Mother Church of Georgia is a Georgia historical marker in Chatham County, dedicated 2001.

On Johnson Square in Savannah.

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This Episcopal Church was the first house of worship established with the founding of Georgia in 1733. Early rectors included the Rev. John Wesley (1736-37), who began the earliest form of Sunday school and published the first English hymnal in the colonies, and the Rev. George Whitefield (1738-40), founder of Bethesda Orphanage. The cornerstone for the first building on this site was laid in 1744. James Hamilton Couper designed the current and third structure in 1838. The 1819 Revere & Son bell continues in use today. One of many prominent members was Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts of America.

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)
1865 · Savannah, Georgia. Charleston, South Carolina. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

Savannah, Georgia. Charleston, South Carolina, 1865, covering the location of Christ Church: The Mother Church of Georgia, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Savannah, Georgia. Charleston, South Carolina, 1865, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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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

On the National Register nearby

U.S. Customhouse310 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.