Telfair Square is one of the 22 squares of Savannah, Georgia, United States. It is located in the second row of the city's five rows of squares, on Barnard Street and West President Street, and was laid out in 1733 as one of the first four squares. It is south of Ellis Square, west of Wright Square and north of Orleans Square. Liberty Square formerly stood to its west but was later paved over. The oldest building on the square is Telfair Academy, at 121 Barnard Street, which dates to 1818–1820. Originally named St. James Square, in honor of a green space in London, and marked one of the most fashionable neighborhoods in early Savannah,Chan Sieg (1984). ''The squares: an introduction to Savannah''.

Virginia Beach Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the List of cities in Virginia, most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeaster ...

: Donning. it was renamed in 1883 to honor the Telfair family.''Savannah Scene''
magazine, May–June 2007, pp 10–11, accessed June 16, 2007. It is the only square honoring a family rather than an individual or an event. The Telfairs included former governor of Georgia

Edward Telfair Edward Telfair (1735 – September 17, 1807) was a Scottish-born American Founding Father, politician and slave trader who served as the governor of Georgia from 1786 to 1787 and again from 1790 to 1793. He was a member of the Continental Congre ...

, Congressman Thomas Telfair (Edward Telfair's son), and his daughter

Mary Telfair Mary Telfair (January 28, 1791 – June 2, 1875)Mary Telfair
–

(1791–1875), benefactor of Savannah's

Telfair Museum of Art Telfair Museums, in the historic district of Savannah, Georgia, was the first public art museum in the Southern United States. Founded through the bequest of Mary Telfair (1791–1875), a prominent local citizen, and operated by the Georgia Hi ...

. The square also contains tributes to the

Girl Scouts of the USA Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA), commonly referred to as Girl Scouts, is a youth organization for girls in the United States and American girls living abroad. It was founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912, a year after she ...

, founded by Savannahian

Juliette Gordon Low Juliette Gordon Low ( Gordon; October 31, 1860 – January 17, 1927) was the American founder of Girl Scouts of the USA. Inspired by the work of Robert Baden-Powell, founder of Scout Movement, she joined the Girl Guide movement in England, fo ...

, and to the

chambered nautilus The chambered nautilus (''Nautilus pompilius''), also called the pearly nautilus, is the best-known species of nautilus. The shell, when cut away, reveals a lining of lustrous nacre and displays a nearly perfect equiangular spiral, although it ...

.Tour Guide Manual
for licensed tour guides in the City of Savannah, accessed June 16, 2007.

Dedication

Constituent buildings

Each building below is in one of the eight blocks around the square composed of four residential "tything" blocks and four civic ("trust") blocks, now known as the Oglethorpe Plan. They are listed with construction years where known. Three of the blocks have no notable buildings, according to a study by the Historic Preservation Department of the Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission,Historic Preservation Department of the Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission
(November 17, 2011) hence only five are inventoried below. ;Northwestern residential/tything block *110 Jefferson Street (1930) *218 West State Street (1904) *223 (1–6) West Broughton Street (1896/1920) *223 (A) West Broughton Street (1917) *221 West Broughton Street (1901) *217 West Broughton Street (1901) *203–207 West Broughton Street (1889) *201 West Broughton Street (1900) ;Southwestern civic/trust block * Trinity Methodist Church, 127 Barnard Street (1848) ;Northwestern civic/trust block *Telfair Academy, 121 Barnard Street (1820) – by William Jay; part of

Telfair Museums Telfair Museums, in the historic district of Savannah, Georgia, was the first public art museum in the Southern United States. Founded through the bequest of Mary Telfair (1791–1875), a prominent local citizen, and operated by the Georgia His ...

(enlarged and altered in the 1880s); oldest building on the square ;Southwestern residential/tything block *136 Jefferson Street (1884) *Robert Walker Row House, 213–223 West York Street (1905) ;Northeastern residential/tything block *Henry Hayme Building, 114 Barnard Street (1889)Historic Building Map: Savannah Historic District
– Historic Preservation Department of the Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission (November 17, 2011), p. 20 *122 West State Street (1889) *110 West State Street (1889) *109–119 Whitaker Street (1890) *236 West Broughton Street (1889) *121 West Broughton Street (1889) *117–119 West Broughton Street (1890) *113 West Broughton Street (1890) *109 West Broughton Street (1975) *107 West Broughton Street (1935) *105 West Broughton Street (1866)

Gallery

File:Henry Hayme Building.jpg, Henry Hayme Building, 114 Barnard Street File:Walker Row House.jpg, Robert Walker Row House, 213–223 West York Street File:Trinity Methodist Church - August 9, 2020.jpg, Trinity Methodist Church, 127 Barnard Street File:Telfair Academy close.jpg, A closer view of Telfair Academy, 121 Barnard Street

References

{{Squares of Savannah, Georgia Telfair Square (Savannah, Georgia) 1733 establishments in the Thirteen Colonies