Bethesda

As a young British colony in the mid-eighteenth century, Georgia needed structure and guidance in order to flourish. Beginning with the port city of Savannah, several influential British men took the reigns and began to fashion the city in a way that London could never be. Desiring organization, social order, and protestant religion in a region formerly occupied by Native Americans, Reverend George Whitefield came to Georgia and continued his mission work he had started in England. This gave Savannah Bethesda, an orphanage for the children of the area who Whitefield felt needed guidance, both socially and spiritually, to become productive members of society. This establishment would quickly come to shape Savannah into a little London, whether that was the original intention or not. The building of Savannah as a prominent city in colonial America was a prestigious task, and the leaders of the colony kept close to each other and made projects, like Bethesda, an inside job in an effort to create a successful community.