The Hamilton–Turner Inn (also known as the Hamilton–Turner House and the Samuel P. Hamilton House) is a historic mansion in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

, United States. Built in 1873,History
– Hamilton–Turner Inn official websiteHistoric Building Map: Savannah Historic District
– Historic Preservation Department of the Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission (November 17, 2011), p. 51 it is located at 330 Abercorn Street in the southeastern trust/civic lot of Lafayette Square. It is now a luxury inn.

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

native Samuel Pugh Hamilton (1837–1899), colloquially known as ''the Lord of Lafayette Square'', had the mansion built for his family. He and his wife, Sarah Virginia (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Stillings) (1836–1920), "created a social center for the city's elite" with their home. Sarah, his deceased brother's widow, was Hamilton's second wife, whom he married on June 10, 1866; his first, Emma Sprigg, died around 1862, after having two children with Hamilton. Due to Hamilton's work with the Brush Electric Light & Power Company, the Hamilton's mansion was the first home in Savannah with electricity, for in 1883, lights were installed in its salon. The rest of the house was fitted with lights by 1886. The mansion survived Savannah's fire of 1898 that nearly destroyed the nearby Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. This was, in part, due to the

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

roof, which prevented it from being engulfed by the flames. Hamilton died in 1899, in his early sixties. He and his wife, who survived him by 21 years, are buried in Savannah's

Bonaventure Cemetery Bonaventure Cemetery is a rural cemetery located on a scenic bluff of the Wilmington River, east of Savannah, Georgia. The cemetery became famous when it was featured in the 1994 novel ''Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'' by John Berendt, ...

. In 1915, Dr. Francis Turner (1884–1961)''The Family of Bolton in England and America, 1100-1894'', Henry Carrington Bolton and Robert Bolton (1895) purchased the mansion from the Hamiltons, and lived there with his family until 1926. The home was then opened for boarding and became a home for the nurses of the Marine Hospital in 1928, before the Turner family moved back in during the 1940s. The Turners sold the property to the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in 1965. The latter wanted to demolish the structure to make a playground for their nearby school, but the

Historic Savannah Foundation Historic Savannah Foundation is a preservation organization founded in 1955 and based in Savannah, Georgia, United States. In 1950, the four-story Wetter House on East Oglethorpe was demolished.John Berendt John Berendt (born December 5, 1939) is an American author, known for writing the best-selling non-fiction book ''Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'', which was a finalist for the 1995 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction. Biography Ber ...

's 1994 book ''

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil ''Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'' is a non-fiction novel by John Berendt. The book, Berendt's first, was published in 1994 and follows the story of an antiques dealer on trial for the murder of a male prostitute. Subtitled ''A Savannah S ...

'' as the scene of raucous parties held by its resident

Joe Odom Joseph Edward Odom (born December 14, 1979, in Alton, Illinois) is a former NFL linebacker. He was selected in the sixth round of the 2003 NFL Draft with the 191st overall pick by the Chicago Bears out of Purdue University Purdue Univer ...

."MIDDAY IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL: FANS OF BOOK FLOCK TO GEORGIA"
- ''

Hartford Courant The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is considered to be the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven ...

'', March 16, 1997"Nancy Hillis, ‘Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil’s’ Mandy, passes away"
- ''

Savannah Morning News The ''Savannah Morning News'' is a daily newspaper in Savannah, Georgia. It is published by Gannett. The motto of the paper is "Light of the Coastal Empire and Lowcountry". The paper serves Savannah, its metropolitan area, and parts of South Ca ...

'', August 9, 2016 Nancy Hillis, on whom the book's character Mandy Nichols was based, later owned the property. Three years after the book's release, around the time of the

film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...

, Charles and Sue Strickland converted the mansion into luxury suites.

Gallery

File:Savannah Historic District 2 16.JPG, The mansion's

carriage house A carriage house, also called a remise or coach house, is an outbuilding which was originally built to house horse-drawn carriages and the related tack. In Great Britain the farm building was called a cart shed. These typically were open f ...

References

External links

Hamilton–Turner Inn official websiteHamilton–Turner Inn
–

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton-Turner Inn Houses in Savannah, Georgia Houses completed in 1873 Hotels established in 1997 Second Empire architecture in Georgia (U.S. state) Lafayette Square (Savannah) buildings Savannah Historic District

Gallery

See also

References

External links