This outraged the locals, and seven pioneering women formed the Historic Savannah Foundation to purchase historic buildings and protect the historic district.
A Living Cemetery—Colonial Park Cemetery, Savannah
Sadly, it seems that a lot of damage had already been done, and the historic district is still a mixture of beautiful old buildings and unsightly modern clutter. Four squares were included in the original city plan as envisioned by its founder, General James Oglethorpe, in , and other squares were added along the city grid as it grew. One of the original squares is Johnson Square, from which one can get a nice view of the golden-domed city hall:.
Johnson Square lies along Bull Street, and squares on Bull Street were originally intended to be grand monument spaces.
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An example of such a monument square is Madison Square:. The statue in this square is of William Jasper , a Revolutionary War hero. Jasper distinguished himself in the defense of Fort Moultrie on June 28, When a shell from a British warship shot away the flagstaff, he recovered the South Carolina flag, raised it on a temporary staff, and held it under fire until a new staff was installed.
Governor Rutledge gave a golden sword to Jasper in recognition of his bravery. Jasper died in the Battle of Savannah , in which the Continental Army attempted to retake the city from the British.
Savannah is particularly lovely at night, and the streets seem very safe, as there are always many people about. Below is an image of Monterey Square:. War monuments are all the rage in Savannah; in Franklin Square, there is an intriguing memorial to Haitian volunteers who fought with Pulaski in the Battle of Savannah:. The lovely Forsyth Park was founded in the s for the southern end of the city.
Its landmark fountain looks especially nice at night:. Savannah is also known for its historic buildings, such as the Davenport House , which dates back to A rather subtly unusual house is the Kehoe House , which now serves as an inn:. What is unusual about the house and not obvious from a casual glance is that the white pillars and railings are all constructed of iron, not wood!
William Kehoe was an iron founder and used his own home to show off the versatility of his building material. One of the most famous homes in this district is the Owens-Thomas House , constructed between I can highly recommend his general tour, which traces the architectural history of the city; he also can give specialty tours for those who are interested in a particular aspect or style. Savannah also has landmark churches, among them the quite lovely Cathedral of St. For those interested in touristy things, however, there is a string of shops along the river that makes for a nice walk at the very least:.
With the addition of a playground on the East Perry Street side of the cemetery, this becomes even more evident. Perhaps all the moving and removing of bodies thoroughly disoriented them, and they remain safely interred. She discovered the remains of a bound goat with its throat slashed. Nonetheless, perhaps the souls of the dead are not as safely interred as Piechocinski believes.
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Since the writing of her book, quite a bit has been written about the spirits that still walk here. In , I wrote about a video that had been taken by a tourist in the cemetery. The video, taken December 1, , shows what appears to be a small child and another figure.
The child is seen running in the background and then the figures appear to possibly fly up into a tree then come down a moment later. Investigation by a film special effects crew hired by Cleveland, Ohio news station, WJW Fox News 8 see their story here , determined that the video is not a hoax and the ghostly figures are inconclusive.
Personally, I would have to side with the special effects crew.
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Yes, the figures are strange, but the young man with the video camera did not investigate the figures any more closely, especially after something fell out of the tree. The video shows the cemetery is also full of people, so a small child running along is not that unusual. To me, the falling object at the end of the video appears to be a palm branch. But fake or real however, this video does provide a good reason to discuss the ghosts of Colonial Park Cemetery. If anything, this cemetery most certainly should be haunted. While it is not the first cemetery established in Savannah, it is the oldest extant cemetery.
When the city was laid out in by General James Oglethorpe, the founder of the city and the colony of Georgia, a burial ground was established in at a site between York, Bull, Oglethorpe, and Whitaker Streets, a location that is a few blocks west of Colonial Park. That cemetery was closed after only seventeen years of use and a cemetery was established at the site of Colonial Park. Eight years later, the cemetery ownership was given to Christ Church. The cemetery was expanded and opened for the burial of all Christians regardless of denomination. A wall was constructed to surround the cemetery in Nearly a hundred years after the cemetery was first established in , the city dedicated space on the newly acquired Springfield Plantation as Laurel Grove Cemetery and closed the South Broad Street Cemetery as it was known to burials in It's just part of life.
Sometimes it serves no good to take yourself THAT seriously.
The cemetery was never a tourist destination unti Berendt's book heaped attention to it. Savannahians and others with loved ones buried there would visit, many caring for their family plots on Sundays, a tradition dating back to the late 19th. It's been long popular to sit on a bench overlooking the Wilmington River, with a book in hand.
Bonaventure is one of the loveliest and most historic places to visit in Savannah. I hope that future generations of resepctful, well-mannered visitors continue to see this necropolis. The ill-behaved people who have no respect for others' property and privacy are the ones whom many of us in Savannah detest. They are the ones walking over plots, disturbing funerals in their search for the Bird Girl, Johhny Mercer's grave or even Jim Williams' final resting spot and he's not in Bonaventure! Several years ago a prominent Savannah family had public access to some of Bonaventure's lanes closed for an hour so their loved one could be buried without the usual tourist traffic disturbing the service.
Their family plot is near Johnny Mercer's, a popular gravesite since Midnight was published. They knew the only way their family member could be laid to rest in a dignified manner was to keep tourists away from the funeral proceedings was to have the area barricaded. The Bird Girl's family had no choice but to request that their family plot remain anonymous years after the statue was relocated to a museum setting.
Bonaventure Cemetery
Foggybottom, once again I understand your meaning, and agree, but as a non-local I have to say I have a broader perspective. Tourists are everywhere, and most americans frankly are in need of more manners. But Savananah residents are no more or less mannered than anyone else, nor suffer more or less from the unmannered than any other city. Sometimes you do have to take appropriate action, as you mentioned with closed off part of the cemetary for the dignity of a funeral, or keeping a famous grave secret.
The book did cause a lot of this but again what is so bad about that? Everyone on this site is a tourist. And everyone on this site is a local. We have both experiences. As tourists, we enjoy the trips, and talk mostly about the positive. I didn't mention, for example, the first encounter with my Concierge who replied to my distress at being given bad directions in the rain, with "What do you want me to do, call the local police?
I didn't need to experience that, I'm on vacation.
But we overlook these things as human nature. I hope Savannah doesn't change, and that she keeps her elegance and quiet charm. I would love to return again and again to the city. I do believe that this southern city will continue to be wonderful because it is small enough to avoid that big city vacation traffic.
A Living Cemetery—Colonial Park Cemetery, Savannah - Southern Spirit Guide
It will continue to draw the right type of crowds, the ones who love history, art, architecture, etc. Meanwhile, measures can be taken to deal with the small problems created by the thoughtless. This topic has been closed to new posts due to inactivity. We hope you'll join the conversation by posting to an open topic or starting a new one.