Thomas Gibbons Range

{{Short description|Historic building in Savannah, Georgia}} {{Infobox building | name = Thomas Gibbons Range | native_name = | former_names = | logo = | logo_size = | logo_alt = | logo_caption = | image = File:Thomas Gibbons Range.jpg | caption = The building in 2021, viewed from Whitaker Street | pushpin_map = | building_type = | architectural_style = | structural_system = | cost = | location = Savannah, Georgia, U.S. | address = 102–116 West Congress Street | client = | owner = | current_tenants = | landlord = | coordinates = {{coord|32.0801484|-81.093138|display=inline,title}} | construction_start_date = | completion_date = {{Start date and age|1820|p=yes}} | inauguration_date = | demolished_date = | destruction_date = | height = | diameter = | other_dimensions = | floor_count = 3 | floor_area = | architect = William Gibbons | structural_engineer = | main_contractor = | services_engineer = | civil_engineer = | other_designers = | quantity_surveyor = | awards = | references = }}

The '''Thomas Gibbons Range''' is a building in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Now comprising eight properties, it is located on West Congress Street, in the southeastern civic block of Ellis Square in Savannah's City Market. Built in 1820, it is the oldest building on the square,<ref name=mpc7>[https://www.thempc.org/docs/lit/hist/maps/supplement.pdf Historic Building Map: Savannah Historic District] – Historic Preservation Department of the Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission (November 17, 2011), p. 7</ref> and the oldest operating commercial building in Savannah.<ref name=sorry>[https://www.sorrycharlies.com/history The Gibbons Range Building] – Sorry Charlie's official website</ref> It is part of the Savannah Historic District and was built, towards the end of his life, for Thomas Gibbons (1757–1826), a planter, politician, lawyer, steamboat owner and the plaintiff in ''Gibbons vs. Ogden''. The building was erected by his son William.<ref name="nysed">{{cite web|title=Steamboats on the Hudson: An American Saga - Thomas Gibbons|url=https://www.nysl.nysed.gov/mssc/steamboats/player_gibbons.htm|website=www.nysl.nysed.gov|publisher=New York State Library|access-date=22 February 2018|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Galvani1999">{{cite book|last1=Galvani|first1=William|title=Mainsail to the Wind: A Book of Sailing Quotations|date=1999|publisher=Sheridan House, Inc.|isbn=9781574090673|page=193|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iMRGtZ4dfmoC&pg=PA193|access-date=22 February 2018|language=en}}</ref> Gibbons had owned the lot since 1809.<ref name=sorry/>

In 1943, Frank C. Mathews purchased the property at number 116, where he established Mathews Seafood. The following year, he purchased the adjacent number 114, and a local signmaker was commissioned to make a neon fish sign for the restaurant, now known as Sorry Charlie's Oyster Bar. The sign became a popular landmark, and the Historic Savannah Foundation designated it a historic artifact. (This is not the sign on the building today.)<ref name=sorry/> Sorry Charlie's expanded again, into 112 West Congress Street, in 2018.<ref>[https://www.baystreetrealtygroup.com/blog/2019/09/05/sorry-charlies-oyster-bar Sorry Charlie's Oyster Bar] – Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, September 5, 2019</ref>

The Lady & Sons, a restaurant owned by Paula Deen, occupied number 102, at the Whitaker Street end of the building, between 1996<ref>[https://www.ladyandsons.com/beginnings/ "The History of The Lady & Sons"] – The Lady & Sons official website</ref> and 2025.

==Gallery== <gallery> File:106-108-110-112-114-116 West Congress Street (1820).jpg|The corner of West Congress Street and Barnard Street in 2012 File:Sorry Charlie's Oyster Bar, Barnard St, Savannah GA 20160705 1.jpg|Looking back at Sorry Charlie's in 2016 File:102-104 West Congress Street (1820).jpg|Brickwork detail </gallery>

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas Gibbons Range}} Category:Commercial buildings completed in 1820 Category:Ellis Square (Savannah, Georgia) buildings Category:Savannah Historic District