The Green-Meldrim House is one of Savannah's most impressive historic structures. It was built between 1853-1861 for Charles Green, a successful cotton merchant, and designed by architect John Norris in the Gothic Revival style. It is without question one of the South's finest examples of this style. It is also significant in that served as the headquarters for General Tecumseh Sherman from December 1864 to the end of the Civil War the following year. Soon after his arrival, Sherman wrote a telegram to President Abraham Lincoln informing him that he (Sherman) was giving him Savannah as a Christmas gift. The house is owned and maintained by the adjacent St. John's Church, which uses the house for weddings and other events. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976.
Sherman's words to Lincoln were as follows: I beg to present you as a Christmas-gift the city of Savannah, with one hundred and fifty heavy guns and plenty of ammunition, also about twenty-five thousand bales of cotton. Charles Green lived in the house until Peter Meldrim bought it in 1892. It remained in the family until 1943 when it was sold to the church.