The Salzburger Town that Georgia Refused to Forget: Jerusalem Lutheran Church, Rincon, GA

Jerusalem Lutheran Church is all that remains of the historic Georgia Salzburger community of Ebenezer. Founded shortly after James Oglethorpe established the colony of Georgia in 1733, Ebenezer was a thriving community of immigrants from Austria and Germany who fled religious persecution to settle in Georgia.

Deeply religious people, the Georgia Salzburgers built Jerusalem Lutheran Church between 1767 and 1769, making it the oldest church building in Georgia. During the Revolutionary War, the British captured Ebenezer on January 2, 1779, and used the town as a base for operations in the area. The church was used as a military hospital and stable. Legend holds that a British soldier shot a hole through the Swan weathervane at the top of the church — a mark that is no longer visible. The remains of a British redoubt are visible near the New Ebenezer Retreat Center.

The town of Ebenezer was badly damaged during the Revolutionary War and never fully recovered. During the Civil War, General Sherman’s troops occupied the church and town causing significant damage to the church.

Ebenezer’s most famous son was John Adam Treutlen, who served as Georgia’s first constitutionally elected Governor in 1777. Treutlen was a member of the Royal Commons House of Assembly, the Council of Safety, the Provincial Congress and he was among the small group of men who drafted Georgia’s first constitution. Treutlen was also a colonel in the Effingham Militia and served as a quartermaster under General Anthony Wayne in the Georgia Line of the Continental Army.

Across from the church is a small museum operated by the Georgia Salzburger Society that tells the story of the emigration of German Protestants to Georgia along with their lives in Ebenezer. A colonial era Salzburger cabin has also been moved to the site near the museum.