Franklin Square (Savannah, Georgia)

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Franklin Square
Franklin Square, Savannah.jpg
Franklin Square in 2017
Namesake Benjamin Franklin
Maintained by City of Savannah
Location Savannah, Georgia, U.S.
Coordinates 32°04′52″N 81°05′45″W / 32.0810°N 81.0959°W / 32.0810; -81.0959Coordinates: 32°04′52″N 81°05′45″W / 32.0810°N 81.0959°W / 32.0810; -81.0959
North Montgomery Street
East West St. Julian Street
South Montgomery Street
West West St. Julian Street
Construction
Completion 1790; 232 years ago (1790)

Franklin Square is one of the 22 squares of Savannah, Georgia, United States. It is located in the first row of the city's five rows of squares, at Montgomery Street and West St. Julian Street.[1] It is west of Ellis Square in the northwestern corner of the city's grid of squares. The oldest building on the square is 317 West Bryan Street, which dates to 1846.[2]

The square is named for Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, who served as an agent for the colony of Georgia from 1768 to 1778 and who died in 1790, the year Franklin Square was laid out.[3]

The square once contained a forty-foot-tall water tower to distribute water to residents. It was built with after the previous system of public and private surface wells was overwhelmed by the rising population of the city. The water was taken out of the Savannah River west of the Ogelthorpe Canal Basin before being filtered and pumped up to the water tower.[4] Because of this the tower, Franklin Square was also known as Water Tank Square, Water Tower Square and Reservoir Square.[1]

The square was destroyed in 1935 with the routing of US Highway 17 on Montgomery Street but was restored in the mid 1980s.[1][5] The square now anchors the western end of the City Market retail area.[6]

A memorial honoring Haitian volunteers who fought with Casimir Pulaski during the siege of Savannah, created by sculptor James Mastin, was unveiled in Franklin Square in 2007.[6] The memorial sculpture includes a depiction of 12-year-old Henri Christophe, who became the commander of the Haitian army and King of Haiti.[6]

Dedication[]

Markers and structures[]

  • Haitian memorial in the center of the square

Constituent buildings[]

Each building below is in one of the eight blocks around the square composed of four residential "tything" blocks and four civic ("trust") blocks, now known as the Oglethorpe Plan. They are listed with construction years where known.

Northwestern residential/tything block
  • 418 West Bryan Street (1910)[2]
  • 420 West Bryan Street (1912)[2]
  • 14 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (1891/1924)[2]
Northwestern trust/civic block
Southwestern residential/tything block
  • Augustus Walter Building, 401–405 West Congress Street (1867/1870)[2]
  • 407–415 West Congress Street (1870/1872)[2]
  • James Brannen Building, 419-423 West Congress Street (1875) – third story added 1906; roof development is 21st century
Northeastern trust/civic block
  • Abraham Minis Building, 317 West Bryan Street (20–22 Montgomery Street) (1846)[2] – oldest building on the square; Vinnie Van GoGo's as of 2021
  • 301–305 West St. Julian Street (1855)[2]
  • 304 West St. Julian Street (c. 1855)
  • 302 West St. Julian Street (1855)[2] – A. T. Hun Art Gallery as of 2021
  • 312 West St. Julian Street (1860)[2]
  • 310 West St. Julian Street (1884)[2]
  • 314–316 West St. Julian Street (1870)[2]
Southeastern trust/civic block
  • Charles Lamar Properties, 305–307 West St. Julian Street (1892)[2]
  • 309–315 West St. Julian Street (1902)[2]
Southeastern residential/tything block
  • George Hardcastle Building, 30–38 Montgomery Street (1855)[2]
  • Charles Meitzler Building, 307–309 West Congress Street (1875)[2]
  • Germania Fire Company, 315 West Congress Street (1871)

Gallery[]

  • 418–420 West Bryan Street

  • First African Baptist Church, 23 Montgomery Street

  • Augustus Walter Building, 401–403 West Congress Street

  • Augustus Walter Building, 405 West Congress Street

  • James Brannen Building, 419-423 West Congress Street

  • Abraham Minis Building, 317 West Bryan Street

  • 314 West St. Julian Street

  • The side of 315 West St. Julian Street, from Montgomery Street

  • Immediately around the corner to the right, 310–312 West Congress Street, the frontages of the previous properties

  • Charles Lamar Properties, 305–307 West St. Julian Street

  • 309–315 West St. Julian Street

  • 302–204 West Bryan Street

  • 305 West Bryan Street

  • George Hardcastle Building, 30–38 Montgomery Street

  • Charles Meitzler Building, 307 West Congress Street

  • Germania Fire Company, 315 West Congress Street

References[]

  1. ^ a b c "Franklin Square". Visit-Historic-Savannah.com. Visit-Historic-Savannah.com. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Historic Building Map: Savannah Historic District – Historic Preservation Department of the Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission (November 17, 2011), p. 4
  3. ^ "Virtual Historic Savannah Project: Franklin Ward". Virtual Historic Savannah Project. Savannah College of Art and Design. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  4. ^ Fraser, Walter (2005). Savannah in the Old South. University of Georgia Press. p. 295. ISBN 082032776X. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  5. ^ "Squares of Savannah" (PDF). CityWalkingGuide.com. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  6. ^ a b c "Franklin Square - Savannah, GA". Savannah.com. Savannah.com. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
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