Georgia Natural Wonder #106 - Savannah – Chatham County - Squares (Part 6). 834

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Georgia Natural Wonder #106 - Savannah – Chatham County - Squares (Part 6)

Here we are on post six, which breaks the record of five on Athens. I feel like I shortchanged the antebellum period of Savannah in post five, because that is the real natural and historic era on display when people visit. When I first came, I made it a point to see all the Squares and it turns out all the Squares were laid out and designed between the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. So before we move past the Civil War history we covered yesterday, let's take a deep dive on the Squares of Savannah.

Squares of Savannah, Georgia

We covered in post two, that the U.S. city of Savannah, Georgia was laid out in 1733 around four open squares, each surrounded by four residential ("tything") blocks and four civic ("trust") blocks. Once the four wards were developed in the mid-1730s, two additional wards were laid out. The layout of a square and eight surrounding blocks was known as a "ward." The original plan (now known as the Oglethorpe Plan) was part of a larger regional plan that included gardens, farms, and "out-lying villages." While some authorities believe that the original plan allowed for growth of the city and thus expansion of the grid, the regional plan suggests otherwise: the ratio of town lots to country lots was in balance and growth of the urban grid would have destroyed that balance.



Oglethorpe's agrarian balance was abandoned after the Georgia Trustee period. Additional squares were added during the late 18th and 19th centuries, and by 1851 there were 24 squares in the city. In the 20th century, three of the squares were demolished or altered beyond recognition, leaving 21. In 2010, one of the three "lost" squares, Ellis, was reclaimed. Most of Savannah's squares are named in honor or in memory of a person, persons or historical event, and many contain monuments, markers, memorials, statues, plaques, and other tributes.

Overview


1770 plan of Savannah showing the first six squares. The Savannah River and "north" are to the bottom of the image. In addition to the first four squares—Johnson, Wright, St. James (Telfair) and Ellis—this map also shows the later-constructed Reynolds and Oglethorpe Squares.

The city of Savannah was founded in 1733 by General James Oglethorpe. Although cherished by many today for their aesthetic beauty, the first squares were originally intended to provide colonists space for practical reasons such as militia training exercises. The original plan resembles the layout of contemporary military camps, which were likely quite familiar to General Oglethorpe. The layout was also a reaction against the cramped conditions that fueled the Great Fire of London in 1666. A square was established for each ward of the new city. The first four were Johnson, Percival (now Wright), Ellis, and St. James (now Telfair) Squares, and themselves formed a larger square on the bluff overlooking the Savannah River. The original plan actually called for six squares, and as the city grew the grid of wards and squares was extended so that 33 squares were eventually created on a five-by-two-hundred grid. (Two points on this grid were occupied by Colonial Park Cemetery, established in 1750, and four others—in the southern corners of the downtown area—were never developed with squares.) When the city began to expand south of Gaston Street, the grid of squares was abandoned and Forsyth Park was allowed to serve as a single, centralized park for that area.


Colonial Park Cemetery is worth a tangent post by itself.

All of the squares measure approximately 200 feet from east to west, but they vary north to south from approximately 100 to 300 feet. Typically, each square is intersected north-south and east-west by wide, two-way streets. They are bounded to the west and east by the south- and north-bound lanes of the intersecting north-south street, and to the north and south by smaller one-way streets running east-to-west and west-to-east, respectively. As a result, traffic flows one way—counterclockwise—around the squares, which thus function much like traffic circles.


Layout of a typical ward in Oglethorpe's plan

Each square sits (or, in some cases, sat) at the center of a ward, which often shares its name with its square. The lots to the east and west of the squares, flanking the major east-west axis, were considered "trust lots" in the original city plan and intended for large public buildings such as churches, schools, or markets. The remainder of the ward was divided into four areas, called tythings, each of which was further divided into ten residential lots. This arrangement is illustrated in the 1770 Plan of Savannah, reproduced here, and remains readily visible in the modern aerial photograph above. The distinction between trust lot and residential lot has always been fluid. Some grand homes, such as the well-known Mercer House, stand on trust lots, while many of the residential lots have long hosted commercial properties.



All of the squares are a part of Savannah's historic district and fall within an area of less than one half square mile. The five squares along Bull Street—Monterey, Madison, Chippewa, Wright, and Johnson—were intended to be grand monument spaces and have been called Savannah's "Crown Jewels." Many of the other squares were designed more simply as commons or parks, although most serve as memorials as well.



Architect John Massengale has called Savannah's city plan "the most intelligent grid in America, perhaps the world", and Edmund Bacon wrote that "it remains as one of the finest diagrams for city organization and growth in existence." The American Society of Civil Engineers has honored Oglethorpe's plan for Savannah as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, and in 1994 the plan was nominated for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The squares are a major point of interest for millions of tourists visiting Savannah each year, and they have been credited with stabilizing once-deteriorating neighborhoods and revitalizing Savannah's downtown commercial district.

First four squares, 1733


The first four squares were laid out by James Oglethorpe in 1733, the same year in which he founded the Georgia colony and the city of Savannah.

Johnson Square

Johnson Square was the first of Savannah's squares and remains the largest of the 24. It was named for Robert Johnson, colonial governor of South Carolina and a friend of General Oglethorpe.Interred in the square is Revolutionary War hero General Nathanael Greene, the namesake of nearby Greene Square. Greene died in 1786 and was buried in Savannah's Colonial Park Cemetery. His son, George Washington Greene, was buried beside him after drowning in the Savannah River in 1793. Following vandalism of the cemetery by occupying Union forces during the Civil War the location of Greene's burial was lost. After the remains were re-identified Greene and his son were moved to Johnson Square. An obelisk in the center of the square now serves as a memorial to Gen. Greene. The cornerstone of the monument was laid by the marquis de La Fayette in 1825. At that time the obelisk did not yet commemorate any specific individual or event. In fact, due to financial restrictions the unmarked obelisk served for several years as a joint monument to both Greene and Casimir Pulaski. Inscriptions honoring Greene were added in 1886, but the Greenes’ physical remains did not arrive until 1901, following their "rediscovery."



Johnson Square contains two fountains, as well as a sundial dedicated to Colonel William Bull, the namesake of Savannah's Bull Street. Bull was a South Carolinian who assisted Oglethorpe with the establishment of Savannah and, as a surveyor, laid out the original street grid. The sundial has four panels, one on each side of its square granite base. The dial itself is bronze, set atop a marble shaft. One of the base panels reproduces a 1734 map of Savannah.



Another landmark of Johnson Square includes the Johnson Square Business Center. This building, formerly known as the Savannah Bank Building, was the city's first "skyscraper", built in 1911.



Johnson Square is known as the financial district, or banking square, and many of the City's financial services companies are located here.These companies include the Savannah Bancorp, Savannah Bank, Coastal Bank Headquarters, Bank of America branch, SunTrust branch, TitleMax Corporate Headquarters, and a Regions Bank building.



Johnson Square is located on Bull, between Bryan and Congress Streets.

Wright Square

The second square established in Savannah, Percival Square was named for Lord Percival, generally regarded as the man who gave the colony of Georgia its name (a tribute to Great Britain's King George II). It was renamed in 1763 to honor James Wright, the third and final royal governor of Georgia. Throughout its history it has also been known as Court House Square and Post Office Square; the present Tomochichi Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse is adjacent to the west.



The square is the burial site of Tomochichi, a leader of the Creek nation of Native Americans. Tomochichi was a trusted friend of James Oglethorpe and assisted him in the founding of his colony. When Tomochichi died in 1739 Oglethorpe ordered him buried with military honors in the center of Percival Square. In accordance with his people's customs the grave was marked by a pyramid of stones gathered from the surrounding area. In 1883, citizens wishing to honor William Washington Gordon replaced Tomochichi's monument with an elaborate and highly allegorical monument to Gordon. William Gordon is thus the only native Savannahian honored with a monument in one of the city's squares.


Gordon Monument Wright Square.

Gordon's own widow objected strongly to this perceived insult to Tomochichi. She and other members of the Colonial Dames of the State of Georgia planned to erect a new monument to Tomochichi, made of granite from Stone Mountain. The Stone Mountain Monument Company offered the material at no cost. Mrs. Gordon felt that she was being condescended to and insisted on paying. The Monument Company sent her a bill—some sources say for 50 cents, others for one dollar—payable on Judgment Day. Mrs. Gordon paid the bill and attached a note explaining that on Judgment Day she would be occupied with her own affairs. The new monument was erected in 1899. It stands in the southeast corner of the square and eulogizes Tomochichi as a great friend of James Oglethorpe and the people of Georgia.



Wright Square is on Bull, between State and York Streets.

Ellis Square

Ellis Square is located on Barnard between Bryan and Congress Streets. The square was laid out in 1733 as part of Decker Ward, the third ward created in Savannah. The square was originally called Decker Square, named after Sir Matthew Decker, one of Trustees for the Establishment of the Colony of Georgia in America, Commissioner of funds collection for the Trust, director and governor of the East India Company, and member of Parliament. The square was renamed after Sir Henry Ellis, the second Royal Governor of the colony of Georgia.



It was also known as Marketplace Square, as from the 1730s through the 1950s it served as a center of commerce and was home to four successive market houses. Prior to Union General Sherman's arrival in December 1864, it was also the site of a slave market  with some indications of slaves being held under the northwest corner of the square. A large brick building was built in the 1850s to house the market, facing south on Barnard St. In 1954 the city signed a 50-year lease with the Savannah Merchants Cooperative Parking Association, allowing the association to raze the existing structure and construct a parking garage to serve the City Market retail project. Anger over the demolition of the market house helped spur the historic preservation movement in Savannah. The outer structure of this city market building influenced the design of the Kroger grocery store on Gwinnett St and the Publix grocery store in the Twelve Oaks shopping center on Abercorn Street.





When the garage's lease expired in 2004, the city began plans to restore Ellis Square. The old parking garage was demolished in 2006 to make way for a new public square (park) that features open spaces for public concerts, as well as an underground parking garage. The underground facility was completed and formally dedicated in January 2009. Ellis Square officially reopened at a dedication ceremony held on March 11, 2010. A bronze statue, by Susie Chisholm, of songwriter-lyricist Johnny Mercer, a native Savannahian, was formally unveiled in Ellis Square on November 18, 2009.



Telfair Square

St. James Square was named in honor of a green space in London, England, and marked one of the most fashionable neighborhoods in early Savannah. It was renamed in 1883 to honor the Telfair family. It is the only square honoring a family rather than an individual. The Telfairs included former Governor Edward Telfair, Congressman Thomas Telfair (Edward Telfair's son), and Mary Telfair (1791–1875), benefactor of Savannah's Telfair Museum of Art.


Square is right next to Art Museum.



The square also contains tributes to the Girl Scouts of the USA, founded by Savannahian Juliette Gordon Low, and to the chambered nautilus.



Telfair Square is located on Barnard, between State and York Streets.

Two new squares

Oglethorpe's plan called for six wards and squares. Lower New Square and Upper New Square—now Reynolds and Oglethorpe Squares—completed the founder's vision.

Reynolds Square

Lower New Square was laid out in 1734 and was later renamed for Capt. John Reynolds, governor of Georgia in the mid-1750s. Reynolds was in fact an unpopular governor and it is said that the celebration held upon his arrival in the colony was rivaled only by that held upon his departure. The square contains a bronze statue by Marshall Daugherty honoring John Wesley, founder of Methodism. Wesley spent most of his life in England but undertook a mission to Savannah (1735–1738), during which time he founded the first Sunday school in America. The statue was installed in 1969 on the spot where Wesley's home is believed to have stood. The statue is intended to show Wesley preaching out-of-doors as he did when leading services for Native Americans, a practice which angered church elders who believed that the Gospel should only be preached inside the church building.



Reynolds Square was the site of the Filature, which housed silkworms as part of an early—and unsuccessful—attempt to establish a silk industry in the Georgia colony.



SITE OF THE FILATURE (Headquarters of the Silk Industry), E. St. Julian St. between Lincoln and Abercorn Sts., is now Cassell's Row, a cluster of small brick houses with high stoops and handsome iron banisters. The barnlike filature, where apprentices were instructed in silk weaving, was erected in 1751, but two decades later the industry failed and the building was converted into an assembly and dance hall. In this hall, October 9, 1783, a group of ameteurs, headed by two professional actors from Charleston, presented Savannah's first dramatic performances, The Fair Penitent and Miss in Her Teens, which were so well received that the producers remained for the season. Two years later they built the city's first playhouse, probably on Franklin Square.


Trumpet playing Reynolds Square.

Reynolds Square is located on Abercorn, between Bryan and Congress Streets.

Oglethorpe Square

Upper New Square was laid out in 1742 and was later renamed in honor of Georgia founder General James Oglethorpe, although his statue is located in Chippewa Square, to the southwest. The home of Georgia's first Royal Governor, John Reynolds, was located on the southeast Trust Lot (now a parking lot of The Presidents' Quarters Inn) overlooking Oglethorpe Square. Reynolds arrived in Savannah October 29, 1754. The residences of the Royal Surveyors of Georgia and South Carolina were located on the northeast Trust Lots, the site of today's Owens-Thomas House.


Front and Rear Owens - Thomas House.

The Presidents' Quarters Inn, a 16-room historic bed and breakfast, is located on the southeast Trust Lots. The square contains a pedestal honoring Moravian missionaries who arrived at the same time as John Wesley and settled in Savannah from 1735 to 1740, before resettling in Pennsylvania.


Could not find Pedestal, overview of Oglethorpe Square.

A Savannah veterans’ group had unsuccessfully proposed erecting a memorial to veterans of World War II in Oglethorpe Square (which was installed on River Street in 2010).



Oglethorpe Square is located on Abercorn, between State and York Streets; President Street intersects east and west. After the American Revolutionary War, the British name of "Prince Street" was officially renamed "State Street" and "King Street" was renamed "President Street".

The 1790s

Savannah grew rapidly in the late 18th century and six new wards were established in the 1790s alone, including the four that now comprise the northeastern quadrant of the Historic District. The new wards expanded the grid by one unit to the west and by two to the east. Due to space restrictions these new wards are slightly narrower east-to-west than the original six.

Washington Square

Built in 1790, Washington Square was named in 1791 for the first President of the United States, who visited Savannah in that year.Washington stayed several days in Savannah, where he received – as symbol of the new nation and the city’s most distinguished visitor – an enthusiastic welcome. Washington attended services at Christ Church on Johnson Square and public dinners and entertainments given in his honor, along with a tour of the town’s Revolutionary War defenses.



He also found time during his short stay to pay two visits to Catherine Greene, the widow of his general, Nathanael Greene, at her Mulberry Grove plantation. The remainder of Washington’s Georgia tour (his only visit to the state) was spent at Waynesboro and Augusta.


Washington's Guns up on Bay Street.

Washington Square had been the site of the Trustees' Garden. Named for the trustees of Oglethorpe's colony, the garden was the testing ground for a variety of experimental crops – including mulberry (for silkworms), hemp, and indigo – viewed as potential cash crops. Most of these experiments proved unsuccessful.





Washington Square is on Houston, between Bryan and Congress Streets. It was one of only two squares named to honor a then-living person; Troup Square was the other. Washington Square was once the site of massive New Year's Eve bonfires; these were discontinued in the 1950s.



Franklin Square

Franklin Square was designed and laid out in 1790. It is located on the western end of town at the intersection of Montgomery Street and W Julian Street, bordered on the north side by W Bryan St and on the south side by W Congress St. It was named in 1791 for Benjamin Franklin, who served as an agent for the colony of Georgia from 1768 to 1778 and who had died in 1790.



The square held a forty foot tall water tower to distribute water to residents. It was built with after the previous system of public and private surface wells was overwhelmed by the rising population of the city. The water was taken out of the Savannah River west of the Ogelthorpe Canal Basin before being filtered and pumped up to the water tower. Because of this the tower, Franklin Square was also known as Water Tank Square, Water Tower Square and Reservoir Square.



The square was destroyed in 1935 with the routing of US Highway 17 on Montgomery Street but was restored in the mid 1980s. The square now anchors the western end of the City Market retail area.



A memorial honoring Haitian volunteers who fought with Pulaski during the Siege of Savannah, created by sculptor James Mastin, was unveiled in Franklin Square in 2007. The memorial sculpture includes a depiction of 12-year-old Henri Christophe, who became the commander of the Haitian army and King of Haiti.


We covered the Haitians in the Siege of Savannah post four.

Warren Square

Warren Square was laid out in 1791 and named for General Joseph Warren, a Revolutionary War hero killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill and who had served as President of the Provincial Government of Massachusetts. British gunpowder seized by Savannahians had been sent to aid the Americans at Bunker Hill. The ‘’sister city’’ relationship between Savannah and Boston survived even the Civil War, and Bostonians sent shiploads of provisions to Savannah shortly after the city surrendered to General Sherman in 1864.



Warren Square is on Habersham, between Bryan and Congress Streets.

Columbia Square

Columbia Square was laid out in 1799 and is named for Columbia, the poetic personification of the United States. It is located on Habersham, between State and York Streets. In the center of the square is a fountain that formerly stood at Wormsloe, the estate of Noble Jones, one of Georgia's first settlers. It was moved to Columbia Square in 1970 to honor Augusta and Wymberly DeRenne, descendants of Jones. It is sometimes called the "rustic fountain," as it is decorated with vines, leaves, flowers, and other woodland motifs.



Greene Square

Greene Square was laid out in 1799 and is named for Revolutionary War hero General Nathanael Greene, an aide to George Washington. A native of Rhode Island, Greene commanded southern forces during the Revolution, and after the war settled at Mulberry Grove, an estate fourteen miles above Savannah. Greene, along with his son, is actually buried in Savannah's Johnson Square. Greene Square was once the center of Savannah's African-American community. On the northwest Trust Lot is Second African Baptist Church, the site where Union General William Sherman famously announced Special Field Orders 15, better known as "40 acres and a mule".





Green Palm Inn (two seamen's cottages, ca. 1897) is on the square.



The square is located on Houston, between State and York Streets. Before the American Revolutionary War, State Street was named Prince Street.

Liberty Square

Liberty Square was laid out in 1799 and named in honor of the Sons of Liberty and the victory over the British in the Revolutionary War. It was located on Montgomery between State and York Streets. It was paved over to make way for improvements to Montgomery Street. A small portion remains and is the site of the "Flame of Freedom" sculpture.



19th-century squares

Expansion of Oglethorpe's grid of wards and squares continued through the first half of the 19th century, until a total of 24 squares stood in downtown Savannah.

Elbert Square

Elbert Square was laid out in 1801 and named for Samuel Elbert, a Revolutionary soldier, sheriff of Chatham County, and Governor of Georgia. We talked about his heroics at the battle of Brier Creek in post #4. It was located on Montgomery between Hull and Perry streets. It was paved over to make way for improvements to Montgomery Street and today is represented by a small grassy area across Montgomery from the west entrance to the Civic Center.



Chippewa Square

Chippewa Square was laid out in 1815 and named in honor of American soldiers killed in the Battle of Chippawa during the War of 1812. (The spelling "Chippewa" is correct in reference to this square.)



In the center of the square is a bronze statue of Georgia founder General James Oglethorpe created by sculptor Daniel Chester French and unveiled in 1910. Oglethorpe faces south, toward Georgia's one-time enemy in Spanish Florida, and his sword is drawn.



Busts of Confederate figures Francis Stebbins Bartow and Lafayette McLaws were moved from Chippewa Square to Forsyth Park to make room for the Oglethorpe monument.



When the busts were dedicated in Chippewa Square, there was an elaborate parade in which various Confederate Veterans organizations, the Sons of Confederate Veterans, civic groups, and Savannah’s military groups participated. The monument/bust to Bartow (closest to the camera) was unveiled by Francis Bartow Hight, a granddaughter of one of Francis Bartow’s sisters.



Due to the location of the monument, Savannahians sometimes refer to this as Oglethorpe Square, although the actual Oglethorpe Square sits just to the northeast.



The "park bench" scene which opens the 1994 film Forrest Gump was filmed on the north side of Chippewa Square. The bench was a fiberglass prop, rather than one of the park's actual benches. A replica of the prop bench used in the film is on display at the Savannah Visitors Center. The original prop is now is kept in Paramount Studios, Los Angeles. Chippewa Square is also home to First Baptist Church (1833), the Philbrick-Eastman House (1844), and The Savannah Theatre (1818).





Chippewa Square is located on Bull, between Hull and Perry Streets.

Orleans Square

Orleans Square was laid out in 1815, commemorating General Andrew Jackson's victory at the Battle of New Orleans in January of that year. In the center of the square the German Memorial Fountain honors early German immigrants to Savannah. Installed in 1989 it commemorates the 250th anniversary of Georgia and of Savannah, as well as the 300th anniversary of the arrival in Philadelphia of 13 Rhenish families.





Orleans Square is located on Barnard, between Hull and Perry Streets, and is adjacent to the Savannah Civic Center.

Lafayette Square

Lafayette Square was laid out in 1837 and is named for Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, the French hero of the American Revolution who visited Savannah in 1825. The square contains a fountain commemorating the 250th anniversary of the founding of the Georgia colony, donated by the Colonial Dames of Georgia in 1984, as well as cobblestone sidewalks.



Adjacent to the square is the Roman Catholic Cathedral of John the Baptist. Given this proximity Lafayette Square features prominently in Savannah's massive Saint Patrick's Day celebrations. Water in the fountain is dyed green for the occasion.



In this area is the museum known as the Flannery O'Connor Childhood Home, which is open to the public.



Lafayette Square is located on Abercorn, between Harris and Charlton Streets.

Pulaski Square

Pulaski Square was laid out in 1837 and is named for General Casimir Pulaski, a Polish-born Revolutionary War hero who died of wounds received in the Siege of Savannah (1779). It is one of the few squares without a monument—General Pulaski's statue is actually in nearby Monterey Square.Prior to the birth of the historical preservation movement and the restoration of much of Savannah's downtown Pulaski sheltered a sizeable homeless population and was one of several squares that had been paved to allow traffic to drive straight through its center.



Pulaski square is located on Barnard, between Harris and Charlton Streets, and is known for its live oaks.

Madison Square

Madison Square was laid out in 1837 and named for James Madison, fourth President of the United States. In the center of the square is an 1888 statue by Alexander Doyle memorializing Sgt. William Jasper, a soldier in the Siege of Savannah who, though mortally wounded, heroically recovered his company's banner. Savannahians sometimes refer to this as Jasper Square, in honor of Jasper's statue.



Madison Square features a vintage cannon from the Savannah Armory. These now mark the starting points of the first highways in Georgia, the Ogeechee Road leading to Darien and the Augusta Road.



The square also includes a monument marking the center of the British resistance during the Siege. Sherman had his Headquarters in a nearby house.





Madison Square is located on Bull, between Harris and Charlton Streets.

Crawford Square

Crawford Square was laid out in 1841 and named in honor of Secretary of the Treasury William Harris Crawford, born in Amherst County Virginia in 1772. Crawford ran for President in 1824 but came in third, after winner John Quincy Adams and runner-up Andrew Jackson. We will do a good tangent on Crawford when we come to Crawfordville.



Although Crawford is the smallest of the squares it anchors the largest ward, as Crawford Ward includes the territory of Colonial Park Cemetery. It is located on Houston, between Hull and Perry Streets on the eastern edge of the historic district. During the era of Jim Crow this was the only square in which African-Americans were permitted. The square contains playground facilities, a basketball court, and a gazebo.



While all squares were once fenced it is the only one that remains so. Crawford Square has also retained its cistern, a holdover from early fire fighting practices. After a major fire in 1820 firemen maintained duty stations in the squares, each of which was equipped with a storage cistern.



Chatham Square

Chatham Square was laid out in 1847 and named in 1851 for William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham. Although Pitt never visited Savannah he was an early supporter of the Georgia colony and both Chatham Square and Chatham County are named in his honor.



Chatham Square is sometimes known locally as Barnard Square, in reference to a city school that stood adjacent for many years. Louis Burke Toomer, African-American leader, local bank founder, and realtor, was born in Savannah in 1897. Raised and educated locally, Toomer established the Georgia Savings and Realty Corporation on February 23, 1927, in the historic black business district on West Broad Street. During segregation, the company provided banking, investment, and insurance services for blacks who were not always allowed access to white banking establishments. In 1947, the name of the corporation changed to The Carver Savings Bank, and it was converted to a state-supervised savings bank. It became The Carver State Bank in 1962. A staunch Republican who served as a delegate at three GOP conventions, Toomer was appointed Register of the Treasury (1953-1956) by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Toomer died in 1961 and a bronze sundial was erected in his honor in 1964 in Chatham Square. It keeps getting vandalized.



The square is located on Barnard, between Taylor and Gordon Streets.

Monterey Square

Monterey Square was laid out in 1847 and commemorates the Battle of Monterrey (1846), in which American forces under General Zachary Taylor captured the city of Monterrey during the Mexican–American War. War crimes revealed in tangent link. (The correct spelling in reference to the square is "Monterey", with a single r.) In the center of the square is an 1853 monument honoring General Casimir Pulaski. The cornerstone of the monument was laid by Lafayette—in Chippewa Square in 1825. Due to financial limitations an obelisk in Johnson Square served as a joint memorial to Nathanael Green and Pulaski for several years. By 1852 funds had been collected to give Pulaski his own monument. The sculptor was allowed to choose the site for the project and he had the cornerstone moved to Monterey Square.



Deterioration of the Pulaski monument was noted as early as 1912, and pieces began to fall in the 1990s. Restoration of the monument was completed in 2001. The body of an unknown Revolutionary soldier is said to be buried beneath Pulaski's monument, speculated by some to be Pulaski himself.



Monterey Square is the site of Mercer House, built by Hugh W. Mercer and more recently the home of antiques dealer and conservator Jim Williams.



The house, and the square itself, were featured prominently in John Berendt's 1994 true crime novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. The square has been used as a setting for several motion pictures, including the 1997 film version of Berendt's novel.



The square also is home to Congregation Mickve Israel, which boasts one of the few Gothic-style synagogues in America, dating from 1878.



Monterey Square is located on Bull, between Taylor and Gordon Streets, and is widely considered to be the most picturesque of Savannah's squares. All of the surrounding buildings but one (the United Way Building) are original to the square.



Troup Square

Troup Square was laid out in 1851 and named for former Georgia Governor, Congressman, and Senator, George Troup. It is one of only two squares named for a person living at the time (the other being Washington Square). A large iron armillary sphere stands in the center of the square, supported by six small metal turtles.The armillary has been the source of some controversy, as it is one of the few examples of modern sculpture in the squares.



A special dog fountain is located on the west side of the square. The Myers Drinking Fountain was a gift from Savannah mayor Herman Myers in 1897 and originally placed in Forsyth Park. When moved to Troup Square its height was adjusted for canine use and has become the site of an annual Blessing of the Animals.



Troup Square is located on Habersham, between Harris and Charlton Streets

Calhoun Square

Calhoun Square was laid out in 1851 and is named for South Carolina statesman John C. Calhoun, who served as Secretary of War, Secretary of State, and as Vice President under John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. It is sometimes called Massie Square in reference to a neighborhood school. It is the only square with all of its original buildings intact.


Massie Heritage Center (School)

The square is believed to have been built over a slave burial ground, with around one thousand bodies buried in it. In 2004 a skull was found by utility workers outside the Massie Heritage Interpretation Center on the square's southeastern side.


Slave Graveyard named for John C. Calhoun, you can't make this up.

It is located on Abercorn, between Taylor and Gordon Streets.

Whitefield Square

Whitefield Square was laid out in 1851—the final square built. It is named for the Rev. George Whitefield, founder of Bethesda Home for Boys (a residential education program – formerly the Bethesda Orphanage) in the 18th century, and still in existence on the south side of the city. It has a gazebo in its center.



A notable building facing the square is the First Congregational Church. Other prominent though 20th-century buildings are the Rose-of-Sharon Apartments and the Red Cross Building.


Lot of Churches near Whitfield Square.

It is on Habersham, between Taylor and Gordon Streets.

Forsyth Park

After 1851, as the city expanded south of Gaston Street, further extensions of Oglethorpe's grid of wards and squares were abandoned. Forsyth Park, located just south of Monterey Ward, was intended to be a single large park that would serve the growing southern portion of the city just as the squares had served their individual wards.



The fountain at the north end of the park was added in 1858 and is reminiscent of fountains in the Place de la Concorde in Paris and in Cuzco, Peru. At this time, Parisian urban planning was centered on the development of residential neighborhoods radiating out from a central green space. The Parisian model of developing large city parks was emulated by large cities in the United States, with even smaller cities, such as Savannah, asserting their own cosmopolitan image.Every St. Patrick's Day the fountain is ceremoniously turned green in celebration of Savannah's deep Irish heritage.The fountain and many other aspects of Savannah are clearly visible in The Longest Yard (1974 film) and the 1962 film Cape Fear.



Standing in the middle of Forsyth Park with the pathway wrapping around it lies the Confederate Memorial Statue. This work of art was donated by the Monroe County Courthouse to commemorate those volunteers who gave their lives fighting for the Confederacy. The memorial is surrounded by a fence to protect it from vandalism.


Bartow and McLaws bust in inside fence.

The park is bordered by Gaston Street on the North, Drayton Street on the East, Park Avenue on the South and Whitaker Street on the West. It contains walking paths, a children's play area, a Fragrant Garden for the blind, a large fountain, tennis courts, basketball courts, areas for soccer and Frisbee, and home field for Savannah Shamrocks Rugby Club. From time to time, there are concerts held at Forsyth to the benefit of the public.


Color Run?

Other, smaller neighborhood parks have been established in the southern portions of the city. OK, we have covered the Colonial, Revolutionary, Antebellum, and Civil War Eras and Development of Savannah and Chatham County. What an unique and cherished Jewell of Georgia. So much more to go, just the people from Savannah will take up a whole post. But we venture forth in this comprehensive Forum. Today's GNW Gal competes in Irish Green with the prior Scarlett Red Southern Belle from Post 5.