When staying in one of our fine Savannah hotels, inns, or bed and breakfasts, one is sure to experience the City’s hospitable reputation. Savannah has many park "squares" that are beautiful year round.

Calhoun Square was laid out in 1851, one of the last squares. It is on Abercorn Street with the cross streets being Taylor and Gordon. It was named for John C. Calhoun a well known South Carolina politician. Massie School and Wesley Monumental Methodist Church are on this square.

Chatham Square was laid out in 1847, one of the last squares. It is on Barnard Street with the cross streets being Taylor and Gordon. It was named for William Pitt, the Earl of Chatham. On the southeast corner of the square is Gordon Row, fifteen four story townhouses built as rental housing. The Barnard Street School, now one of the buildings of the Savannah College of Art and Design is on the northwest corner of the square.

Crawford Square is on Houston Street between Perry and Hull Streets.
This square is one of two lost squares, represented by a small grassy area today. This square was laid out in the 1840s and named to honor William Harris Crawford who was Secretary of the Treasury under President Madison and once thought to be a prime contender for President of the United States. It is the only square that is still fenced as all the squares were at one time. It is located on Montgomery St. directly across from the westside entrance to the Civic Center.

Marketplace Square This square was one of the original four squares, laid out in 1733. It was always referred to as Marketplace Square because that was its use. The square was named for Henry Ellis, second Royal Governor. This entire square, on Barnard Street between W. Bryan and W. Congress Streets, is now covered by the city parking garage. On the westside of the square, the City Market complex extends for two blocks over to Franklin Square. This is the site of the Old City Market which was demolished in the early 1950s. The loss of this structure upset residents to the extent that efforts began to prevent further losses of irreplaceable buildings.

Franklin Square This square is located on Montgomery Street between Congress and Bryan Streets. It was named for Benjamin Franklin who had been the Georgia Colony's Agent in London. It was laid out in 1791 and for many years the City's water tower was here so it was referred to as Water Tower or Reservoir Square. The First African Baptist Church is located on the westside of the square and the end of the City Market complex is on the eastside. Franklin Square was restored in the 1980s.

Greene Square This square was named to honor Gen. Nathanial Greene, second in command to George Washington in the American Revolution. On the southwest corner, the Meyerhoff house is built of Savannah Gray Brick and a sign on the house notes that these bricks were made at the Hermitage Plantation. The Second African Baptist Church, dating to 1802 is on the westside of the square. At this church, Sherman made his famous "Forty Acres and a Mule" promise to the newly freed slaves. Also on this square is the 1801 wooden building that was the Savannah Female Orphan Asylum

Johnson Square This is the City's first square, laid out in 1733. It was named for Robert Johnson, Governor of South Carolina when the Georgia colony was founded. The public mill and oven were located on this square and it was the site of the earliest church, Christ Church, which is still there; but not in the original building. The Savannah Bank Building, now First Wachovia, was the City's first "skyscraper." It was built in 1911 on the northeast corner of Bull Street and Bryan. This is the banking square and many of the City's banks are located here. In the center of the square is the Nathanial Greene Monument.

Madison Square This square was named to honor President James Madison and laid out in 1837. It is on Bull Street with Harris and Charlton Streets providing boundaries. On the West side of the square there is St. John's Episcopal Church and its parish house, the Green-Meldrim House which is open to the public. On the corner of Charlton and Bull Streets, there is the Scottish Rite Temple designed by Hyman Witcover who was also the architect for the present Savannah City Hall. Across from that is the Savannah Volunteer Guards Armory, now one of the Savannah College of Art and Design's buildings. The DeSoto Hilton Hotel, on the northeast corner, was built in the 1960s after the original DeSoto was torn down. The site was originally the Oglethorpe Barracks, c. 1834, the site of early military parades. The center of Madison Square is the Sgt. Jasper Monument.

Monterey Square In 1847, the Irish Jasper Greens, a Savannah military group, returned from the Mexican war and this name (Monterey) was given to honor one of the battles in that war. All of the buildings on this square except one (the United Way building) are original to the square.

Temple Mickve Israel is here with its museum which is open to the public.
On the southwest corner, at 3 W. Gordon, is the Noble Hardee House, completed in 1869 as a double house but later converted into a single dwelling. Also on this square is the Mercer-Wilder House and the 1857 built Oglethorpe Club building. The Pulaski Monument is in the center of Monterey Square.

Reynolds Square Located on Abercorn Street between Congress and Bryan Streets, this square was named for James Reynolds, a Georgia Royal Governor. On the northeast trust lot, the Filature House was located. This center of the silkworm effort was the first large building in the colony and used as a meeting center before it burned down in the mid 1800s. The Corps of Engineers building is now on that site. The Pink House is one of the few houses to survive the Great Fire of 1796. Across St. Juilian Street from it, also on the westside of the square is the Oliver Sturgiss House. He was a partner with William Scarbrough in the Steamship Savannah venture.

St. John's Square From 1733 to 1883, this square was named St. John's Square and was one of the most fashionable residential areas. It was renamed to honor Edward Telfair, three time governor of Georgia (1786-1792) and his family. The Telfair family home, now the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences, is one of the oldest art museums in the South. The Trinity Methodist Church and the Federal Buildings which were completed in the 1980s are on this square. Located on Barnard Street between York and State Streets.

Warren Square This square, laid out in 1791, is on Habersham Street between Bryan and Congress Streets. It was named for General Joseph Warren, killed in the 1775 battle of Bunker Hill. The city parking garage covers the two western Trust Lots. The Spencer House, built in 1791, on the westside of the square, underwent a total restoration in the 1980s. A private philanthropist has completely redone the double house on the northwest corner of Habersham Street in 1993. On St. Julian Street between this square and Washington Square there are some of the oldest houses in the historic district.

Washington Square This square, on Houston Street, is near the site of the old Trustees Garden. It was named for George Washington. For many years, until the mid-twentieth century, this square was the scene of the biggest New Year's Eve bonfires, many often taller than the houses around the square. The Seaman's House, operated by the Port Society to serve the needs of visiting seaman, is on the southwest side of the square. The Mulberry Inn, also on this square, was originally a cotton warehouse, built in the 1860s, then a Coca-Cola bottling plant before being converted to an inn.

Whitefield Square This square, on Habersham between Taylor and Gordon Streets, is named for the Rev. George Whitefield, an early minister in the colony, friend of John Wesley, and founder of the Bethesda Orphanage in 1740. Done in 1851, this was the last of the City's squares. Around the square there are wooden Victorian houses, a later style in the historic district. On the northside of the square are two very tall, modern buildings: the Red Cross and the Rose of Sharon apartments. Also on this square is the First Congregational Church.

Wright Square This is one of the oldest of the City's squares, laid out in 1733. It is on Bull Street between State and York Streets. It was originally called Percival Square to honor Viscount Percival, later the Earl of Egmont. It was renamed to honor James Wright, Georgia's last Royal Governor.
It was commonly called "Court House Square," as from its earliest days to the present, it has held a courthouse on the site. The present yellow brick courthouse, on the east side, was designed by William Gibbons Preston and was renovated in 1992 for continued use by county offices.

On this square, Tomochichi was buried in an elaborate funeral service in 1739. His monument remained as done by the early colonists until it was demolished in the early 1880s to make way for a monument to William Washington Gordon. The members of the Colonial Dames in Georgia were responsible for placing a huge boulder of Georgia granite in the southeast side of the square in memory of Tomochichi

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