About
The Green Meldrim House is a rare 1853 Gothic Revival style residence built as a showplace of the style and taste of the owner, Charles Green, a British national, who became an extremely wealthy cotton factor in the boom years of 1850s Savannah. The house tells the story of the time when the railroad, transatlantic trade, middlemen such as Green, cotton production and slavery transformed the city, state and nation.
The home was the scene of significant mid-19th century events in American History, most particularly as General Williams T. Sherman’s personal headquarters from December 22, 1864, to February 1, 1865, following the extraordinary military offensive known as The March-to-the-Sea. Visual documentation of the occupancy is verified in Harper’s Weekly Magazine, January 28, 1865, making it one of the most recognized homes of the time. From his headquarters Sherman wrote the famous telegram “giving” Savannah to President Lincoln for Christmas 1864. During his residency, Sherman, along with Secretary of State Edwin Stanton, met with 20 African Americans – all preachers – on January 12, 1865, to determine the fate of newly freed people. It was the first time in American history African Americans were asked, “What do you want for your people?” The result was Special Field Order #15, which is popularly called Forty Acres and a Mule, specifying the division of coastal lands into family plots. The Georgia Historical Society commissioned and displays three historical markers - Sherman’s Headquarters, The March-to-the-Sea and Special Field Order 15 - in close proximity to the house on Madison Square, demonstrating the significance of the house to the Great American Story.
The inhabitants of the house affect the story told. The owners – the Greens from 1850 to 1892, the Meldrim family from 1892 to 1943 – share interpretive space with the enslaved workers and the domestic employees after the Civil War. Of special note is Susie King Taylor, who worked for the Greens in 1872-73, as a laundress and cook. Ours is the only museum open to the public in Savannah where Taylor is known to have inhabited. Her book Reminiscences of My Life in Camp with the 33D United States Colored Troops is the only known memoir written by an African American woman of life as an American Civil War nurse and teacher. The book also corroborated her time employed with the Greens.
Recognized as an early example of community historic preservation, the Green-Meldrim House was purchase through subscriptions by St. John’s Church in 1943, and it has remained its parish house ever since. In 2023, management of the house was reorganized under The Keepers of Historic Green-Meldrim House a board comprised of community members as well as parishioners. Its mission is “To preserve and maintain with excellence the historic structure, collections, and garden of the Green-Meldrim House and to share with Savannah and the world the stories of the people who designed, built, visited, worked, lived and changed history in it.” (9/20/2023) The Keepers received their non-profit designation in October 2023.
Open for tours, visitors hear the history of the home and the people who lived there while marveling at the exceptional architectural features including a spectacular interior dome in the stairwell, doors and shutters that descend in pockets in the walls, fifteen-foot ceiling and elaborate plasterwork.
Hours of operation: Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. with the last tour beginning at 3:30 p.m. Walk-ins welcome.
Souvenirs may be purchased at the site's shop, which is called Sophie's Shop
General Admission: $15, Seniors $13.50 Students (8 to 21) $10
Group tour rates available when booked in advance.
Call or email for additional information: 912-233-3845; info@GreenMeldrimHouse.org
Note: Special programs are offered throughout the year.
Green-Meldrim House , 327 Bull Street, Savannah, GA 31401
912-233-3845 info@GreenMeldrimHouse.org