Crawford Square (Savannah, Georgia)

Last updated
Crawford Square
242 Price Street Warehouse, Savannah, Chatham County, Georgia.jpg
242 Price Street, now demolished
Namesake William Harris Crawford
Maintained by City of Savannah
Location Savannah, Georgia, U.S.
Coordinates 32°04′27″N81°05′12″W / 32.0742°N 81.0868°W / 32.0742; -81.0868 Coordinates: 32°04′27″N81°05′12″W / 32.0742°N 81.0868°W / 32.0742; -81.0868
North Houston Street
East East McDonough Street
South Houston Street
West East McDonough Street
Construction
Completion 1841(181 years ago) (1841)

Crawford Square is one of the 22 squares of Savannah, Georgia, United States. It is located in the middle row of the city's five rows of squares, on Houston Street and East McDonough Street, and was laid out in 1841. It is south of Greene Square and east of Colonial Park Cemetery on the eastern edge of the Savannah Historic District. [1] The oldest building on the square is at 224 Houston Street, which dates to 1850. [2]

Contents

Crawford Square is named in honor of Secretary of the Treasury William Harris Crawford, born in Amherst County, Virginia, in 1772. [3] Crawford ran for the U.S. presidency in 1824 but came in third, after winner John Quincy Adams and runner-up Andrew Jackson. [4]

Although Crawford is the smallest of the squares, it anchors the largest ward, as Crawford Ward includes the territory of Colonial Park Cemetery. [5]

During the era of Jim Crow, this was the only square in which African-Americans were permitted. [5]

The square contains playground facilities, a basketball court, and a gazebo. [6]

While all squares were once fenced, it is the only one that remains so. Crawford Square has also retained its cistern, a holdover from early fire fighting practices. [5] After a major fire in 1820 firemen maintained duty stations in the squares, each of which was equipped with a storage cistern. [7]

The Lady Chablis lived in the square prior to her rise to fame after her appearance in John Berendt's non-fiction novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil . [8]

Dedication

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 civic/trust lot
  • 225 Houston Street [2]
  • 504–508 East McDonough Street [2]
  • 510 East McDonough Street [2]
Southwestern civic/trust lot
  • 227–231 Houston Street [2]
  • 501–503 East McDonough Street (1890) [2]
  • 505–507 East McDonough Street (1890) [2]
  • 232 Price Street [2]
Southwestern residential/tything lot
  • 505–515 East Perry Street (1852) [2]
  • James Roberts Row House, 517–523 East Perry Street (1871) [2]
  • 234–244 Price Street (1855) [2]
Northeastern residential/tything lot
  • 214–222 Houston Street (1910) [2]
  • 415 East Hull Street [2]
  • 215 East Broad Street [2]
Northeastern civic/trust lot
  • John Tucker Property, 224 Houston Street (1850) [2] – oldest building on the square
  • 548–550 East McDonough Street (1870) [2] – the Present Hotel (as of 2022)
  • 221 East Broad Street [2]
Southeastern civic/trust lot
  • 230 Houston Street [2]
  • 543 East McDonough Street [2]
  • 540–544 East Perry Street [2]
  • 227–229 East Broad Street [2]
Southeastern residential/tything lot
  • 531 East Perry Street [2]
  • 533–539 East Perry Street [2]
  • 543–547 East Perry Street [2]
  • 235–239 East Broad Street (1890) [2]
  • 241–243 East Broad Street (1895) [2]
  • 539 East Perry Lane [2]

Related Research Articles

Squares of Savannah, Georgia Part of the Oglethorpe Plan

The city of Savannah, Province of Georgia, was laid out in 1733, in what was colonial America, around four open squares, each surrounded by four residential ("tything") blocks and four civic ("trust") blocks. The layout of a square and eight surrounding blocks was known as a "ward." The original plan was part of a larger regional plan that included gardens, farms, and "out-lying villages." Once the four wards were developed in the mid-1730s, two additional wards were laid. Oglethorpe's agrarian balance was abandoned after the Georgia Trustee period. Additional squares were added during the late 18th and 19th centuries, and by 1851 there were 24 squares in the city. In the 20th century, three of the squares were demolished or altered beyond recognition, leaving 21. In 2010, one of the three "lost" squares, Ellis, was reclaimed, bringing the total to today's 22.

Greene Square (Savannah, Georgia) Public square in Savannah, Georgia

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Reynolds Square (Savannah, Georgia) Public square in Savannah, Georgia

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Orleans Square (Savannah, Georgia) Public square in Savannah, Georgia

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Madison Square (Savannah, Georgia) Public square in Savannah, Georgia

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Lafayette Square (Savannah, Georgia) Public square in Savannah, Georgia

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Troup Square (Savannah, Georgia) Public square in Savannah, Georgia

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Calhoun Square (Savannah, Georgia) Public square in Savannah, Georgia

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References

  1. ↑ Coastal Travel Guide's ‘’Savannah Squares’‘, accessed June 16, 2007.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Historic Building Map: Savannah Historic District – Historic Preservation Department of the Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission (November 17, 2011), p. 42
  3. ↑ SavannahBest.com's Squares of Savannah, accessed June 16, 2007
  4. ↑ The Savannah Experience, Historic Savannah Squares, accessed June 16, 2007
  5. 1 2 3 Tour Guide Manual for licensed tour guides in the City of Savannah, accessed June 16, 2007.
  6. ↑ Savannah Scene magazine, May–June 2007, pp 10–11, accessed June 16, 2007.
  7. ↑ Chan Sieg (1984). The squares: an introduction to Savannah. Virginia Beach: Donning.
  8. ↑ "A Square as Reminder of Jim Crow Days". Freeman's Rag. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
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