By Sondra L. Shapiro
Savannah conjures thoughts of John Berendt's 1994 book, "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," about a murder that took place in the Mercer-Williams House. Undeniably the success of the book helped to boost tourism to the oldest city in Georgia, the last of the original 13 American Colonies to be founded.
While the book captured the atmosphere — eccentric characters, breathtaking architecture, oozing with drama, history and charm — a visit provided context and substance.
"The dead are very much with us in Savannah," said Miss Harty, a character in the book. "Everywhere you look there is a reminder of things that were, people who lived. We are keenly aware of our past."
Indeed, the spirit of James Oglethorpe, who founded what is America's first planned city, was present as I navigated architecturally rich streets anchored by pastoral squares. The book shows how Savannah inspires storytelling, and to that end I joined a few walking tours. This allowed me to get up-close and personal with Savannah's colorful history and lore.
All Oglethorpe accomplished would have been lost had it not been for a group of concerned women in the 1950s who singlehandedly saved historic structures from the wrecking ball and a restoration movement in the 1970s. The efforts helped save more than 1,200 of Savannah's stately buildings.
During my weekend visit I heard tales surrounding the visit to the city in 1825 by Marquis de Lafayette, who fought at George Washington's side, and learned the invention of the cotton gin in 1793 helped revive an economically struggling community.
I listened to divergent opinions of the lifelong friendship between Civil War Gen. William Sherman and Savannah businessman Charles Green, who lent his Gothic Revival mansion to the general. Green believed the goodwill gesture would save the city from destruction, which it did.
While the city offers hop-on, hop-off trolley tours, the 2.5 square mile is easily walkable, allowing visitors to bask in the lushness of massive live oak trees dripping with Spanish moss, serene squares rich with greenery and majestic monuments.
My visit began with Savannah Dan, who provided a colorful elementary version of the city's history. The "Southern gentleman" greeted us in Johnson Square, sporting a seersucker suit and wide-brim hat. As we walked through seven squares, he regaled us with stories of historical milestones, folklore and pop culture.
Dan said Oglethorpe's utopian beliefs helped create the city in 1733. King George II granted a charter for the colony to act as a buffer zone to protect South Carolina from the advances of Spanish-owned Florida.
In Reynolds Square, facing the statue of John Wesley, Dan spun a tale of romantic scandal. Wesley and the comely Sophia Hopkey were an item until Wesley abruptly broke off the relationship. Hopkey accused him of reneging on his promise to marry her. Then, when Hopkey eventually married, she and her husband sued Wesley for refusing to bless the marriage. After the trial, Wesley fled the city and founded the Methodist movement.
Switching to pop culture, Dan gave us an insider's peek into "Forrest Gump" and the famous bus-stop bench scene in that movie. The scene was filmed in Chippewa Square, and the bench Gump sat on was a movie prop.
Next I joined Jonathan Stalcup of Architectural Savannah, who covered the city's structures dating from its founding to present day. With his gift of making history and architecture easily digestible, the two hours flew by. Stalcup, who has a master's degree from Savannah College of Art and Design, spoke of Oglethorpe's idealistic vision for the colony and its original four squares: Johnson, Percival (now Wright), Ellis and St. James (now Telfair). As the city grew, it added more squares. At its peak there were 24.
The unassuming 1760 Christian Camphor house, lost among stately brick and stucco mansions, is the oldest surviving home in Savannah.
"The structure is similar to the original Oglethorpe cottage, which was 24 feet facing out by 16 feet deep, about 400 square feet," Stalcup said.
Considered a typical structure for the period, only the upper wooden portion of the home is original.
The earliest structures had a raised basement and two full floors — bedrooms on the top floor and public areas such as dining and parlors on the first floor. Service areas — kitchen and laundry — were in the basement. Because streets were mostly made of sand, raised basements helped protect the home from swirling dust.
Stalcup's admiration for the city's first architect, British transplant William Jay, was evident as he spoke of the construction of the English Regency Owens-Thomas House, completed in 1819 for cotton merchant and banker Richard Richardson. The home features one of the earliest urban slave quarters in the South.
Since Savannah is purported to be the most haunted city in the country, tours catering to the paranormal seem de rigueur after dark, as a profusion of hearses crammed with exuberant ghost-hunters hit the streets. Our investigation began on foot at 10 p.m., when our group of 15 met at a local park. We spent two hours wending our way through dimly lit neighborhoods in search of ghosts. Even the local CVS drugstore is said to be haunted. Our "spirit guide" from Blue Orb Tours kept a running dialogue in between stops. The spookiest visit was to the Colonial Cemetery, which was heavily damaged when Sherman's troops used the grounds as a camp.
WHEN YOU GO
For general information: www.visitsavannah.com
Savannah Dan: www.savannahdan.com or 912-398-3777
Architectural Savannah: www.architecturalsavannah.com or 912-604-6354
Blue Orb Tours: www.blueorbtours.com or 912-665-4258
Sondra L. Shapiro is the founder and publisher of TheFiftyPlusLife.com, an online news publication for baby boomers and GenXers. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
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