Bethesda Home for Boys

Bethesda Home for Boys is an orphanage campus of roughly 650 acres south of Savannah, Georgia. George Whitefield laid its first brick on March 25, 1740, to shelter destitute children, and it is described as the first charity in America and the oldest existing orphanage. Fires in 1773 and 1805 destroyed the first two main buildings, and a permanent structure was completed in 1870. Its center section has since been removed, leaving two two-story wings divided by a courtyard. A 1968 administration building occupies the approximate site of Whitefield's original house, and a small neo-classical brick chapel from 1925 is among the notable buildings. After a period of ruin and state or city control, the Union Society bought the tract in 1854 and has administered it since. Over 8,000 boys have been helped. The complex is largely self-contained, with residences, a gym, a cafeteria, shops and recreation facilities, and it was listed for its humanitarian, educational and historical importance.