Laurel Grove Cemetery, Savannah; (c) Soul Of America
Savannah Heritage Sites
First African Baptist Church
DESCRIPTION: Founded in December 1773 by Rev George Liele on Brampton Plantation; Liele was ordained in 1775 and the First African Baptist Church claims is the oldest continuously active, autonomously developed African-American congregation in North America; Liele left America with the British after the Revolutionary War; the current church edifice, built in 1861, served as home base the area’s Civil Rights Movement of 1950s-1960s.
SUNDAY WORSHIP: 10:30a
ADDRESS: 23 Montgomery Street, Savannah, GA MAP
PHONE: 912-233-6597
WEBSITE: http://www.theoldestblackchurch.org
First Bryan Baptist Church
DESCRIPTION: On 20 January 1788, the Andrew Bryan was ordained as pastor of the church at Brampton Plantation and erected the first church on this site in 1794; Andrew Bryan was trained for the ministry by George Liele; although the church was built after the current Civil War, this Yamacraw property has been a worship site owned by African-Americans for more than 200 years.
SUNDAY WORSHIP: 11a
ADDRESS: 575 West Bryan Street, Savannah, GA MAP
PHONE: 912-232-5926
WEBSITE: http://www.firstbryanbaptistchurch.com
Second African Baptist Church
DESCRIPTION: On the steps of this church, General William Tecumseh Sherman read the Emancipation Proclamation to Savannah citizens and promised the newly freed slaves 40 acres and a mule; Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. preached his “I Have a Dream” sermon at this site before presenting it at the March on Washington in August 1963.
SUNDAY WORSHIP: 11a
ADDRESS: 123 Houston Street, Savannah, GA MAP
PHONE: 912-233-6163
WEBSITE: http://secondafrican.org
St. Phillips Monumental AME Church
DESCRIPTION: Considered the Mother AME Church of Georgia, it was organized by Rev. A.L. Stanford in 1865; demolished by a storm in 1896, the church was soon rebuilt and named St. Phillips Monumental A.M.E. Church.
SUNDAY WORSHIP: 11a
ADDRESS: 1112 Jefferson Street, Savannah, GA MAP
PHONE: 912-233-8547
WEBSITE: none
Nicholsonboro Baptist Church
DESCRIPTION: The community around the church was established in 1868 when 200 former slaves relocated to Nicholsonboro; 10 years later, 18 African Americans signed a mortgage for 200 acres of land; by 1882 the church received title to the land; the community’s primary monument is the Nicholsonboro Baptist Church.
SUNDAY WORSHIP: 11a
ADDRESS: 13319 White Bluff Road, Savannah, GA MAP
PHONE: 912-921-0566
St. Bartholomew’s Church
DESCRIPTION: Constructed in 1896, this elegant, Victorian Gothic-style church is home to the oldest African-American Episcopal congregation in Georgia, which began on a rice plantation south of Savannah; this plantation church is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
SUNDAY WORSHIP: 11a
ADDRESS: Chevis Road, Savannah, GA MAP
Andrew Bryan Marker
DESCRIPTION: A Georgia State Historical Marker named in honor of the father of the Black Baptists church in America; Andrew Bryan was at Goose Creek, SC about 1716. He came to Savannah as a slave and was baptized by a Negro Missionary, Rev. George Liele in 1781. Since the British promised freedom to every slave during the Revolutionary War, Liele evacuated with the Brits in 1782 as the war turned against them. By 1783 as the war ended, Bryan began preaching at Yamacraw and Brampton Plantations. In 1788, he founded “the” First African Baptist Church; the marker is located across from First Bryan church.
ADDRESS: 500 West Bryan street, Savannah, GA MAP
Scarbrough House
DESCRIPTION: Located in the present Ships of the Sea Museum, this elegant home was built in 1819 for William Scarbrough, president of the Savannah Steamship Company. The architect was the posthumously noted William Jay from England. After a period of vacancy it was soold to the Savannah Board of education and functioned as West Broad Street School from 1878-1962, one of the first public schools for African American children in the city. In 1972, it was acquired by the Historic Savannah Foundation and restoration began.
ADMISSION: $10, Age 5 and under enter Free
DAYS & HOURS: Tue-Sun 10a-5p
ADDRESS: 41 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd, Savannah, GA MAP
PARKING: on premises and street
PHONE: 912-232-1511
WEBSITE: http://www.shipsofthesea.org
Laurel Grove – South Cemetery
DESCRIPTION: Dedicated in 1852 for the burial of free persons of color and slaves, this cemetery is the resting place of many of Savannah’s most famous citizens, including a number of Georgia’s earliest prominent African-American pastors, such as Andrew Bryan.
ADDRESS: Kollock Street at 37th Street, Savannah, GA MAP
Carver State Bank
DESCRIPTION: Founded in 1927 by L.B. Toomer, it is the only independent historically black bank in southeast Georgia.
ADDRESS: 918 Montgomery Street, Savannah, GA MAP
PHONE: 912-201-0417
International F & AM Masons
DESCRIPTION: An Eastern Star branch of this old, venerable organization of masons.
ADDRESS: 912 Drayton Street, Savannah, GA MAP
PHONE: 912-236-4478
