National Register Travel Itinerary--Georgia-Florida

GEORGIA

1) Savannah Historic District

Savannah fountainThe Savannah Historic District, a National Historic Landmark, is significant for its distinctive grid plan as well as its 18th and 19th century architecture. The district encompasses the original town plan laid out in 1733 by Gen. James E. Oglethorpe, founder of the British colony of Georgia. Today Savannah retains much of this plan based on divisions also called wards, squares, and "trustee lots.". Most of the original squares remain and are surrounded by fine examples of buildings in the Georgian, Greek Revival, and Gothic styles. Notable buildings include the Owens-Thomas House built in 1818 (Oglethorpe square), the Beaux-Arts style Edmund Molyneux Mansion circa 1917 (Bull Street), the Spencer Woodbridge House built in 1795 (Habersham Street), and the 1853 Gothic Revival Greene House (Madison Square). Important sites associated with the African American community in the district include Beach Institute (East Harris St.), constructed in 1865 as the city's first black school, and the King-Tisdell Cottage (East Harris St.), the 1896 home of a working-class African American family.

Georgia Map

The boundaries of the Savannah Historic District are the Savannah River, E. Broad Street, Gwinnett Street, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard. Self-guided tours of Savannah are available from the Savannah Visitor Center, in the restored Central of Georgia railroad station at 301 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. The visitor center is open Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. and Saturday-Sunday 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. (912) 944-0455.

The Savannah Historic District is the subject of an online-lesson plan produced by Teaching with Historic Places, a National Register program that offers classroom-ready lesson plans on properties listed in the National Register. To learn more, visit the Teaching with Historic Places home page.

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