Ebenezer

Overview

A town that outlived its streets

Ebenezer began as a refuge for German-speaking Protestants expelled from Salzburg. The first settlement of 1734 stood inland. Poor conditions prompted the move to the Savannah River in 1736, giving the new town the name New Ebenezer. The brick Jerusalem Church, built in 1767–69, survived the town’s decline and remains the clearest link to its colonial streets.

The town and the congregation have different histories of survival. The Georgia Historical Society’s marker, re-erected in 2025, says the town no longer exists and the congregation remains active. A visit is therefore to a historic townsite with a working church, museum and cemetery. People worship here and maintain the grounds.

The museum across from the church tells the story of the Salzburgers and their descendants. The society’s Summer 2026 newsletter describes heritage tours and a September festival. Those particular dates have passed. Its regular museum page lists a short Saturday opening and appointments, making advance contact useful for anyone who wants to see inside rather than only locate the historic site.

A refugee settlement

From Old Ebenezer to the river

The original site and New Ebenezer are separate places. The Georgia Historical Society records the settlers’ relocation in 1736, followed by a wooden church here in 1741. The surviving brick church followed a generation later. The community developed silk production and milling, and its religious leaders organized much of its early life.

1. 1734Salzburger refugees establish the first Ebenezer settlement inland.
2. 1736The community moves to New Ebenezer beside the Savannah River.
3. 1741A wooden Jerusalem Church stands at the new site.
4. 1767–1769The surviving brick church is built.
5. 1779British forces occupy Ebenezer during the Revolution.
6. 1855Wikipedia describes the town as nearly gone by this date.
7. 1974The townsite and church enter the National Register of Historic Places.

A surviving congregation

Jerusalem Church through two wars

British occupation damaged both the church and the town. The Georgia Historical Society records the church’s use as a hospital and stable. The Georgia Trust also describes damage during the Civil War. The town never regained its earlier prosperity, while the congregation continued.

The church’s hand-made brick walls and green shutters are visible in the modern photograph. The society describes local clay used to make the bricks and bells dated 1749 and 1752. Its church page welcomes visitors while emphasizing the congregation’s continuing work. Arrange interior visits with the church; museum opening hours do not establish church opening hours.

Original and relocated

Read the buildings separately

• Jerusalem Church: The surviving brick church dates to 1767–1769.
• Cemetery: The society records burials beginning in 1736 and unmarked graves outside the walls.
• Salzburger House: The society dates the house to 1755. It was moved away in the late nineteenth century and returned in 1973.
• Old parsonage: Built in 1836 and relocated from another site on GA 275; the society identifies it as part of its office and museum complex.
• Museum: The later museum interprets the Salzburgers’ migration and life in Georgia.

The cemetery includes a memorial to African Americans buried at Ebenezer. The society describes a 2010 ground-penetrating-radar study that identified at least 250 unmarked graves outside the walls, including burials associated with slavery. Treat the whole area as a burial ground.

The river landing

Ebenezer on the USGS sheets

The 1920, 1943 and 1953 maps label Ebenezer Landing on the Savannah River below the mouth of Ebenezer Creek. The 1981 sheet shows the river, the approach road and surrounding settlement at a broader scale. These sheets locate the landing and landscape long after the colonial town declined.

A short opening window

Plan around the museum

The society’s museum page lists Saturday hours from 3 to 5 p.m. and appointments at (912) 655-4555. Its office number is (912) 754-7001. The Summer 2026 newsletter confirms active heritage programming, but gives office hours separately from museum hours. Check the museum arrangement before driving out.

The pages checked do not provide a regular admission price, a complete accessibility description, or dependable everyday information about toilets and drinking water. Ask about these when making an appointment. Event meals and guided-tour prices are specific to those events. They are not a general admission schedule.

Historic maps

Ebenezer on USGS maps, 1920–1981

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

19201:62,50019431:62,50019531:62,50019811:100,000

Map & directions

Getting there

Both routes end near Jerusalem Church at New Ebenezer, about 33 metres from the church coordinates. They do not go to the first settlement at Old Ebenezer. Rincon is 8.5 miles and 15 minutes; Savannah is 25.6 miles and 40 minutes. These are stored routing estimates. Confirm the appropriate entrance and parking with the society.

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.

Photos

Jerusalem Church in photographs

Jerusalem Church, November 6, 2015.The church among trees, March 1934; Historic American Buildings Survey.Side of Jerusalem Church, with its tower and green shutters partly shaded by trees, November 6, 2015.The clock and brick gable beneath the church tower, November 6, 2015.

Visitor reports

Been to Ebenezer?

Been there lately? Tell the next visitor what you found: whether you could get in, the state of the road and what's still standing. Photos are welcome. We read every report before it appears here.

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Nearby

Other sites near Ebenezer

Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our Georgia index.

• Clyde28.6 mi SW · Bryan
• Willie37.9 mi SW · Liberty
• Jacksonboro40.1 mi NW · Screven
• Taylors Creek41.0 mi SW · Liberty
• Warsaw57.4 mi S · McIntosh
• Doctortown62.8 mi SW · Wayne
• Belle Vista77.6 mi SW · Wayne
• Thalmann80.7 mi S · Glynn

Sources

Sources and credits

1. ghosttowns.com, “New Ebenezer”: county fact sheet. Its claim that nothing remains conflicts with the surviving church and is not used.
2. Wikipedia, “Ebenezer, Georgia”: coordinates, 1734 settlement, 1736 move, decline and National Register listing.
3. Georgia Historical Society, Jerusalem (Ebenezer) Church, marker re-erected in 2025: original and relocated settlement, church dates, wartime use and continuing congregation.
4. Georgia Trust, “The Salzburger Town that Georgia Refused to Forget”, 2026: wartime damage and the museum across from the church.
5. Georgia Salzburger Society museum, read October 20 and 22, 2026: regular hours of “Saturdays from 3-5 PM” or appointment, address and phone numbers.
6. Georgia Salzburger Society, Summer 2026 newsletter: dated evidence of active heritage tours and church events in September 2026. Past event schedules are not presented as current openings.
7. Society church page: materials, bells, continuing congregation and the 1934 HABS photographs. No daily tourist opening is stated.
8. Society cemetery page: burials, African American memorial and unmarked graves identified in 2010.
9. Society Salzburger House page: 1755 date and relocation history. Parsonage page: 1836 building relocated to the museum complex.
10. Wikimedia Commons description pages linked in the credits: photo dates, subjects, camera locations and licenses. USGS historic sheets: the river landing and surrounding landscape. Elevation: USGS 3DEP point query, about 50 feet at the church coordinates; this differs from the lower river landing. OSRM/OpenStreetMap: October 2026 route estimates, not road-condition reports. Two additional original church photographs by Bubba73 date to November 6, 2015 and use CC BY-SA 3.0; their file pages supply no camera coordinates. The architecture identifies the same church. The photographed historical marker is not used.
11. Georgia Salzburger Society, Heritage Weekend notice, August 23, 2026: September walking tour, church services and festival.

Photo and map credits

• Jerusalem Church, November 6, 2015.: Bubba73 (Jud McCranie), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
• The church among trees, March 1934; Historic American Buildings Survey.: Branan Sanders / Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, GA,52-RIN,1-20, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
• Side of Jerusalem Church, with its tower and green shutters partly shaded by trees, November 6, 2015.: bubba73, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
• The clock and brick gable beneath the church tower, November 6, 2015.: bubba73, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
• Area base map, topo and aerial imagery: USGS The National Map (public domain).
• Historic maps: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain): Hardeeville 1920, 1:62,500; Hardeeville 1943, 1:62,500; Hardeeville 1953, 1:62,500; Savannah 1981, 1:100,000.