Ebenezer, Georgia

Ebenezer Townsite and Jerusalem Lutheran Church
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Jerusalem Lutheran Church
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Location	Effingham County, Georgia
Nearest city	Rincon, Georgia / Springfield, Georgia
Coordinates	32°22′36″N 81°10′51″W / 32.376667°N 81.180833°W / 32.376667; -81.180833Coordinates: 32°22′36″N 81°10′51″W / 32.376667°N 81.180833°W / 32.376667; -81.180833
Built	1767
NRHP Reference #	74000674[1]
Added to NRHP	December 4, 1974

Ebenezer, also known as New Ebenezer, is a ghost town in Effingham County, Georgia, United States, along the banks of Ebenezer Creek. It was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places as Ebenezer Townsite and Jerusalem Lutheran Church in 1974.

History

Map of New Ebenezer, founded 1736

The town was established in 1734^[2] by about 150 Salzburger emigrants, Protestant refugees who had been expelled from the Catholic Archbishopric of Salzburg (in present-day Austria) by a 1731 edict of Prince-archbishop Count Leopold Anton von Firmian. With the consent of governor James Oglethorpe, New Ebenezer was moved closer to the Savannah River in 1736, and at its new location many silk mills were opened. The Salzburgers' pastor, the Reverend Johann Martin Boltzius, sought to build "a religious utopia on the Georgia frontier." That idea was very successful for a time, and the economy thrived. Jerusalem Lutheran Church was completed in 1769, and is the fourth-oldest building in Georgia.^[3]

But, after the British invasion of 1778 during the American Revolutionary War, the town was severely damaged. It never fully recovered, although it briefly served as the capital of Georgia in 1782. It was made the county seat of Effingham County in 1797, but two years later the seat was transferred to Springfield, taking much county business with it. By the time Ebenezer was abandoned in 1855, the town covered only 1/4 square mile. The Jerusalem Evangelical Lutheran Church is one of the few buildings that has survived in Ebenezer, and is believed to have the oldest continuing congregation in the state.

The Ebenezer Townsite and Jerusalem Lutheran Church were listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 4, 1974. The New Ebenezer Camp, established 1977, is located in former Ebenezer. In 1987, the LAMAR Institute began an archaeological study of Ebenezer. Several reports from its researchers are available online at the institute's website.^[4]

One of the more notable people from Ebenezer was John Adam Treutlen, the first state governor of Georgia.

See also

• Johann Martin Boltzius
• John A. Treutlen
• Georgia Salzburger Society
• Salzburger emigrants
• List of the oldest churches in the United States
• List of the oldest buildings in Georgia

References

• Swihart, Altman K. (1960). "The Lutheran Church in America, The Colonial Period". Luther and the Lutheran Church. New York: Philosophical Library. p. 273. 
• Wolf, Richard C. (1965). "A Land of Hopes and Dreams, Salzburgers in Georgia: 1734". Lutherans in North America. Philadelphia: Lutheran Church Press. pp. 18–20. 
• Daniel T. Elliott; Elliott, Rita f. (1991). "Seasons in the Sun: 1989 & 1990 Excavations at New Ebenezer" (PDF). The LAMAR Institute. Retrieved 2015-07-21. 
• Historical maps of Ebenezer Settlement at the State and University Library of Bremen

External links

• Media related to Ebenezer, Georgia (U. S. state) at Wikimedia Commons
• Old Ebenezer historical marker
• Jerusalem (Ebenezer) Church historical marker
• The Rev. John Martin Bolzius The Rev. Israel Christian Gronau historical marker
• Silk Culture at Ebenezer historical marker
• The Town of Ebenezer historical marker

Municipalities and communities of Effingham County, Georgia, United States
County seat: Springfield
Cities	Guyton Springfield
Town	Rincon
Unincorporated communities	Clyo Meldrim