By Evelyn Kelly, PhD
Meet Patrick, who was put in a London prison because his dad died owing lots of money. The Law in England said if debts were not paid, the oldest son must be put in prison. Patrick was in London’s most notorious London prison, Marshalsea.
Patrick heard of General James Oglethorpe, who planned a new colony in America. He would take “the Worthy Poor” for this town. Patrick was chosen, arriving at the present site of Savannah, Georgia, on February 12, 1733. He was auctioned as an indentured servant, and after working for seven years, he was free to acquire land. So began the new colony of Savannah, Georgia, which thrived. Planters established a booming cotton trade and brought in slaves. Oglethorpe did not like the idea of slaves, but he caved in.
Civil War: Fast Forward 80 years
General Sherman marched across Georgia with Savannah as his goal. On December 1, 1864, the Savannah mayor told the General they would surrender with no fight if the soldiers would not burn their homes or harm their citizens. Sherman telegraphed President Lincoln, “I present to you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah.”
Related: Armchair Adventures: Joy and Treasure on Georgia’s Jekyll Island
Your Gift Today
Many houses were spared from destruction and have been renovated. Here are some places you can visit:
- The Armstrong House, Italian Renaissance Style, is now Armstrong College. It was featured in the film “Cape Fear.”
- My favorite is the Mercer-Williams House, the boyhood home of the singer Johnny Mercer. He wrote the song “Moon River,” about a river in Savannah. This house was featured in the book “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.”
- Flannery O’Connor Childhood Home Museum of Mary Flannery O’Connor, writer of Southern Gothic fiction and nonfiction, which contains her memorabilia from the 1930s.
- The home of Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girls Scouts, is on the Ghost tour. The guide told us that a child dressed in 1860s attire had been seen at the top of the stairs. After the guide finished, the lady next to me said that when she first came in, she had just seen that child.
- The Ole Pink House Restaurant is the place for old Southern charm with cuisine to match. We ate barbecued ribs, fried okra, and cornbread with lots of butter.
- Forsyth Park is what Central Park is to New York. The center fountain is modeled after the Spanish fountain in Cuzco, Peru.
- Bonaventure Cemetery overlooks the river. It is home to ornate monuments and sprawling live oak trees hundreds of years old.
Remember that these homes are not in the antebellum style found in Natchez, Mississippi. (Most were built before this style.) For a lot of astounding history in a small area, Savannah is the town for you. For a self-guided tour of Savannah, go to GPSmycity, which can be downloaded on your smartphone. This app will guide you around the city, or you can tour the city with Old Town Tours.
Savoring Savannah
You’ve got to try fried green tomatoes, shrimp and grits, pralines, and peaches. Of course, you can’t get away without stopping at Leopold’s Ice Cream. Every flavor is made from a secret recipe handed down from the original Leopold Brothers.
Evelyn Kelly is coauthor of the upcoming book, Have an Affair with Travel, to be released this fall.
