9/15/20: Savannah's Sublime Squares

After leaving Gainesville's Kanapaha Botanical Gardens, Steven and I headed northeast to the Georgia coastal city of Savannah, as it had long been one of our favorite Southern cities and we wanted to renew our acquaintance with the charming city. Gen. James Oglethorpe and his settlers founded Savannah, the last of England’s 13 colonies in February of 1733. The new settlement was laid out by Oglethorpe and Col. William Bull in a series of wards in which both homes and businesses centered on public squares. Their visionary plan for the city’s blueprint survived to this day because of Oglethorpe’s choice of location. Fast forward to the beginning of the 20th century when developers began to tear down historic structures in their quest to reshape the city skyline. The founding of the Historic Savannah Foundation was sparked by the planned demolition of one of the historic homes. Fortunately, all but two of the 24 squares have survived which was why Steven and I were again drawn to this magnificent Southern city to walk through its Historic Landmark District.

In the 1840s, William Brown Hodgson (1801-1871) decided that ten acres of wooded land should be set aside at this site for the development of Savannah's first recreational park which was named for the former Georgia Governor John Forsyth. In the early 1850s, pines were removed for walkways, and ornamental plantings, benches, and iron fencing were placed around the perimeter. This magnificent fountain and radiating walks were added a few years later.

I could see why Forsyth Park with its impressive fountain from circa 1858 was one of the most photographed spots in the city. 

The park's monument honored the Confederates who died in the Civil War that lasted from 1861-1865.

This section of Forsyth Park that comprised approximately a dozen acres was designated by Savannah's City Council as the Forsyth Park Arboretum in 2003. There were over 50 species of native and adapted exotic species of trees. 

Bordering one part of the park was the palatial Armstrong House with an exquisite wrought iron fence. I would have been curious to know whether one of the sculptures was a Rodin original.

On the next block, this wrought iron detail caught our attention right away.

The imposing, Italian marble Pulaski Monument was in the middle of Monterey Square across from the preceding building. It celebrated the memory of General Casimir Pulaski, the great Polish patriot, who was mortally wounded about a half-mile from this spot while fighting for American independence. 

The squares were lined with azaleas and stunning live oaks draped in moss.

Jefferson Davis, former President of the Confederate States, had been a guest in 1886 at Comer House located on the northeast corner of Monterey Square. Davis and his daughter had come to Savannah to celebrate the centennial of the Chatham Artillery, one of the most distinguished military units in the country. Thousands of visitors and representatives of military organizations attended the centennial festivities. 

On another corner of the square was the neo-Gothic-style Congregation Mickve Israel, the oldest congregation now practicing Reform Judaism in the United States. It was founded in 1773 by a group of mainly Spanish and Portuguese Jews who had arrived in Savannah five months earlier. The synagogue contained a Torah that the museum’s founders had brought from England. The congregation was incorporated in perpetuity by a special Act of the Georgia Legislature in 1790. Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and other presidents all wrote letters of support to the temple. 

The Massie Heritage Center, part of the local public school district, was located in three 19th Greek Revival buildings on Calhoun Square. The city's first elementary school operated here from 1856 until it was closed in 1974.

A couple of minutes' walk away was Lafayette Square. 

The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist was formed in the late 18th century when French emigres fleeing revolutions in Haiti and France sought refuge in Savannah.  The church became a cathedral in 1850 and is the seat of the diocese that includes 90 counties in southern Georgia. It was a shame the cathedral was closed to visitors that day as we couldn't view one of the largest cathedrals in the South, its murals and the solid white-oak 2,081-pipe Noack tracker organ. 

Colonial Park was the city's burying ground from about 1750 until it was closed for burials in 1853. The distinguished dead included the acting Royal Governor of the Province, a Postmaster General under three presidents, and a Revolutionary War soldier who also became a state governor. The cemetery became a public park in 1896.

This was the grave of Edward Greene Malbone (1777-1807). America's premier painter of miniatures. Malbone worked in his native Northeast until he moved to Jamaica after becoming ill from his exacting and unceasing work. Knowing he was dying at the tender age of 30, he traveled to Savannah to be with his cousin. Malbone is acknowledged as not only the country's finest miniaturist but among the greatest of all time anywhere.

Photos of some of the stunning homes that bordered some of the city's breathtakingly beautiful squares:

Here's a piece of useless trivia for you: Savannah was called the Hostess City because its citizens are considered especially hospitable!

In the center of one of the squares was Big Duke, a memorial dedicated to firefighters who "hold devotion to duty above personal risk, who count sincerity of service above personal comfort and convenience, who have given their lives protecting the lives, homes, and property of their fellow citizens from the ravages of fire and other disasters." Steven and I thought initially it was Georgia's copy of the Liberty Bell as we'd seen copies in several other states.

As we strolled through the Historic District, we noticed a constant stream of tourist trolleys but none appeared to have more than six people, no doubt due to the pandemic.

On the corner of Oglethorpe Square was the Owens-Thomas House designed by William Jay before he was even 21 years old! The home was considered not only Savannah's finest example but among the nation's best examples of the Greek Revival style from the English Regency period. 

The home was built from 1816-1819 for Richard Richardson, a Savannah merchant. When Marquis de Lafayette stayed in the home as a guest of the city when he visited in 1825, he addressed the populace from the south balcony. The home was now a historic house museum.

When I hear the word 'tabby,' I think of a type of cat. However, lime, oyster shells, sand, and water were the ingredients of tabby, a building material that was used commonly in the 18th and 19th centuries. The garden walls, and the lower levels of the carriage house and the main house itself were all made of tabby which was poured in layers in wooden forms. The exterior of the Owens-Thomas buildings was covered with stucco, called Roman cement in the 18th century. 360 casks of Roman cement had to be imported from London in 1818 as Savannah had no natural stone.

The English parterre garden connected the home and slave quarters.

Behind the home were the former slave quarters that reputedly contained the nation’s largest collection of ‘haint blue paint’ to ward off evil!

Columbia Square was laid out in 1799. Facing the north side of the square was the Federal-style Davenport House, described as "one of the handsomest examples of Georgian architecture on the South." It was designed and built by its owner, Isaiah Davenport, one of the city's outstanding builders and architects. A tour would have given us an appreciation of life in the 1820s and the role the home played in ushering in the historic preservation movement in the 20th century. The home was saved from demolition in 1955 by seven women who formed the Historic Savannah Foundation, one of the earliest preservation movements inn the country.

Wright Square was laid out in 1733 and originally named for John Percival who was largely responsible for founding the Georgia colony. The square was renamed around 1763 in honor of James Wright, the province's Royal Governor from 1760-1782. In 1739, Tomo-chi-chi, the Chief of the Yamacraw Indians, who had befriended the early Georgia colonists was buried in the center of Wright Square. 

He has been called a co-founder of Georgia and a good friend of the English which was considered indispensable in the establishment of the colony as a military outpost against Spanish invasion. In 1734 at the age of 84, Tomo-chi-chi and his wife, Sensuki, visited the English court where he was received by the King and the Archbishop of Canterbury. When he died five years later at Yamacraw Indian Village, his body was brought to Savannah so he could rest among his English friends as he had wished. He was buried here with military honors. 

On one corner of Wright Square was The Lutheran Church of the Ascension, founded in 1741 by John Martin Bolzius who was in charge of Lutheran work in the Georgia colony. Church members in 1756 bought the lot where the church now stands for 150 pounds. Around 1772, a nearby courthouse was purchased for 17 pounds and moved to this site, thereby becoming the first Lutheran building in Savannah. After the current building was erected in 1843, it was extensively remodeled in 1879 and dedicated as "The Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Ascension" because of its beautiful stained glass window behind the altar which portrayed the Ascension of Christ into heaven.

Orleans Square contained the German Memorial Fountain which commemorated the religious, social, agricultural, economic, and political contributions of early German immigrants to the growth of the colony of Georgia.

Fans of the 1994 Forrest Gump film might be interested to know that the title character played by Tom Hanks spent time reflecting in one of the city’s sublime squares!

Lest you thought that there were only a smattering of exquisite stately homes bordering all the historic squares, here are photos to show you some more that I couldn't help staring at!

As we walked through Pulaski Square, I couldn't understand why the enormous monument honoring Casimir Pulaski we'd seen in another square hadn't been placed in this square that celebrated his contributions. 

The majestic trees provided welcome shade on a late summer's day.

Chatham Square:

We ended our walk around Savannah, long one of our favorite US cities, gazing at the Jepson House Education Center, an Italianate mansion built in 1856 for Savannah grocer and Civil War mayor Thomas Holcombe. Commander of the Confederate States Army Robert E. Lee was hosted here in 1870 during his last visit to the city. The home was later renamed to honor Robert and Alice Jepson, philanthropists and leaders of the effort to obtain the building to serve as the headquarters for the Georgia Historical Society. 

We walked back to our car that we'd parked outside of the Savannah College of Art and Design located in a restored antebellum railroad depot. 

Before bidding adieu to Savannah, we drove to the historic warehouse district along the riverfront, an area we'd spent time in on previous visits when our children were much younger. It brought back happy memories of family road trips.

It wasn’t until I was writing this post that I realized in our several visits to Savannah that we have always missed searching out the First African Church that was built in 1859 and is reputedly North America’s oldest African-American church. When, not if we return to Savannah, we’ll need to make sure to see that and the African-American Monument that depicts a family freed from slavery.

Next post: Savannah Wildlife Refuge over the state line in South Carolina.

Posted on April 23rd, 2021, from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where I just arrived hours ago for a mother-daughter getaway weekend with our older daughter, Nina, who flew in from NYC. I hope you will also enjoy some special time with family or other loved ones.