- Ebenezer, Georgia
Ebenezer is a
ghost town in Effingham County, Georgia,United States , along the banks ofEbenezer Creek . It was established in 1734 by 150 Salzburger Protestants who had been expelled from Salzburg by edict. Ebenezer was moved closer to theSavannah River in 1736, and at its new location many silk mills were opened.Ebenezer was a known haven for religious refugees, such as the Moravians. This came out of a dream of Reverend
Johann Martin Boltzius , to build "a religious utopia on the Georgia frontier". That idea was very successful at the time, and the economy thrived.However, after the British Invasion of 1778, the town became mostly ruins. The county seat of Effingham County, which Ebenezer had held since 1797, was moved in 1799 to Springfield. Some hope for the town was left, however, as it served as the capital of Georgia in 1782, but the population declined. By the time Ebenezer was abandoned in 1855, the town covered only 1/4 square miles. The Jerusalem Evangelical Lutheran Church is one of the only buildings left in Ebenezer.
The Ebenezer Townsite and Jerusalem Lutheran Church were listed on the
National Register of Historic Places onDecember 4 ,1974 . Ebenezer was later incorporated into Rincon. The New Ebenezer Camp, established 1977, is located in former Ebenezer.One of the more notable people from Ebenezer was
John Adam Treutlen , the first state governor of Georgia.References
*
*cite book |last=Swihart |first=Altman K. |title=Luther and the Lutheran Church |chapter=The Lutheran Church in America, The Colonial Period |year=1960 |publisher=Philosophical Library |location=New York |pages=p. 273
*cite book |last=Wolf |first=Richard C. |title=Lutherans in North America |chapter=A Land of Hopes and Dreams, Salzburgers in Georgia: 1734 |year=1965 |publisher=Lutheran Church Press |location=Philadelphia |pages=pp.18-20External links
* [http://gauss.suub.uni-bremen.de/suub/hist/servlet/servlet.hmap?id=248422 Historical maps of Ebenezer Settlement] at the State- and University Library of Bremen
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
