Freemasons' Hall | |
---|---|
Former names | Savannah Cotton Exchange |
General information | |
Architectural style | Queen Anne |
Location | Savannah, Georgia, U.S. |
Address | 100 East Bay Street |
Coordinates | 32°04′52″N81°05′24″W / 32.0811610°N 81.089883°W |
Current tenants | Solomon's Lodge, No. 1, Free and Accepted Masons |
Completed | 1887 |
Technical details | |
Floor count | 3 |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | William G. Preston |
Freemasons' Hall, formerly the Savannah Cotton Exchange, was built in 1876 in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Its function was to provide King Cotton factors, brokers serving planters' interest in the market, a place to congregate and set the market value of cotton exported to larger markets such as New York City or London. By the end of the 19th century, factorage was on the decline as more planters were selling their products at interior markets, thus merely shipping them from Savannah via the extensive rail connections between the city and the interior. The cotton exchange went out of business in 1951. [1]
General William Washington Gordon II was a chairman of the exchange after serving in the Battle of Jonesboro (1864). [2]
In the June 10, 1878, edition of the New York Times , the exchange published the following report, sent the previous day, as a summary for May's business: [3]
One hundred and forty-seven replies were received from 61 counties. The area of land planted in cotton this season was slightly an increase over last year, say 2 per cent. The weather has been unusually find and favorable for the plant. The stands are generally very good, and the crop 10 days to two weeks ahead of last year. The labor is about the same as last year, both as to numbers and efficiency. Where fertilizers are generally used the increase has been 10 to 15 per cent over last season. The present condition of the crop is good. The Spring was early and the preparation of land for planting better than usual. The fields are clear of grass, and the plant is growing rapidly.
The exchange moved to 100 East Bay Street location, in 1887, [4] [5] where the building still stands, with the former warehouses down below on River Street now replaced by a tunnel through to Factors Walk. The city allowed the exchange to build on top of Drayton Street ramp, as long as they left the ramp accessible below, hence its unique design. [6] As the Savannah Morning News reported it, the day after its official opening: "The building is built in the center of a slip leading to the river, and is raised thirty-five feet or so from the ground by iron pillars, so as to give free access to River street." [7]
The building's architect was William G. Preston, whose design was favored over eleven other architects. [5] It is located in Savannah's Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the Cotton Exchange building is a contributing property. [8]
The building has been home to Solomon's Lodge, No. 1, Free and Accepted Masons, since 1976. It was established by founder of the Province of Georgia, General James Oglethorpe, in 1734. [4]
On Labor Day in 2006, a car smashed into the building, causing substantial damage. [4]
The Savannah Chamber of Commerce has erroneously been mentioned as currently occupying the building, but they are former tenants, having been there in the first part of the 20th century; [9] they are now based across the street at 101 East Bay Street. [10]
Savannah is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia and the county seat of Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the British colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. A strategic port city in the American Revolution and during the American Civil War, Savannah is today an industrial center and an important Atlantic seaport. It is Georgia's fifth most populous city, with a 2020 U.S. census population of 147,780. The Savannah metropolitan area, Georgia's third-largest, had a 2020 population of 404,798.
The Owens–Thomas House & Slave Quarters is a historic home in Savannah, Georgia, that is operated as a historic house museum by Telfair Museums. It is located at 124 Abercorn Street, on the northeast corner of Oglethorpe Square. The Owens–Thomas House was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976, as one of the nation's finest examples of English Regency architecture.
The city of Savannah, Georgia, the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, was established in 1733 and was the first colonial and state capital of Georgia. It is known as Georgia's first planned city and attracts millions of visitors, who enjoy the city's architecture and historic structures such as the birthplace of Juliette Gordon Low, the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences, the First African Baptist Church, Congregation Mickve Israel, and the Central of Georgia Railway roundhouse complex. Today, Savannah's downtown area is one of the largest National Historic Landmark Districts in the United States.
William Gibbons Preston was an American architect who practiced during the last third of the nineteenth century and in the first decade of the twentieth. Educated at Harvard University and the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, he was active in Boston, New York, Rhode Island, Ohio, New Brunswick and Savannah, Georgia, where he was brought by George Johnson Baldwin to design the Chatham County courthouse. Preston stayed in Savannah for several years during which time designed the original Desoto Hotel, the Savannah Volunteer Guards Armory and 20 other distinguished public buildings and private homes. He began his professional career working for his father, the builder and architect Jonathan Preston (1801–1888), upon his return to the United States from the École in 1861, and was the sole practitioner in the office from the time his father retired c. 1875 until he took John Kahlmeyer as a partner in about 1885.
The Isaiah Davenport House is a historic home in Savannah, Georgia, United States, built in 1820. It has been operated as a historic house museum by the Historic Savannah Foundation since 1963.
Wild Heron is a historic plantation house approximately 15 miles (24 km) south of Savannah, Georgia. It is one of the oldest domestic structures in Georgia and is a relatively intact example of a typical architectural genre which flourished in coastal Georgia and South Carolina in the eighteenth century. Adding to its significance is its association with Francis Henry Harris (1710–1771) and his son, Col. Francis Henry Harris (1740–1782), prominent figures of the Colonial and Revolutionary eras in Georgia, and the operation through two hundred years as a working rice plantation, owned for much of that time by descendants of the same family.
River Street is a commercial street and promenade in Savannah, Georgia, United States. It runs along the southern edge of the Savannah River for 2 miles (3.2 km), from the merging of North and East Lathrop Avenues in the west to East Bay Street in the east. Its most well-known section runs from the Talmadge Memorial Bridge, then below City Hall and Yamacraw Bluff, to its eastern terminus. It is West River Street up to where the Hyatt Regency Savannah spans it. It is here, around 40 feet (12 m) below Bay Street, that it becomes East River Street. The street is one-way (westbound) from Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
The Brice is a historic building at 601 East Bay Street in Savannah, Georgia, United States. The building, which is in the Savannah Historic District, dates to 1860. At 91,000 sq ft (8,500 m2), it takes up an entire city block of Washington Square, in what was Savannah's Old Fort neighborhood.
Sholl & Fay was the architectural firm of Charles Sholl and Calvin Fay which was active in the 19th century. The partnership existed between 1852 and 1857. They were responsible for the renovations of the City Exchange, Savannah Medical College and several Italianate buildings in Savannah, Georgia, where they were based.
Lower Stoddard Range is a historic range of buildings in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Located in Savannah's Historic District, the addresses of some of the properties are East Bay Street, above Factors Walk, while others solely utilize the former King Cotton warehouses on River Street. As of February 2022, the businesses occupying the ground floor of the River Street elevation are: Boar's Head Grill & Tavern, Savannah's Candy Kitchen, Gallery 209 and Christmas on the River.
Archibald Smith Stores is a historic building in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Located in Savannah's Historic District, the addresses of some of the properties are East Bay Street, above Factors Walk, while others solely utilize the former King Cotton warehouses on River Street. The building was constructed in 1810, making it the oldest intact structure on East River Street. Due to the building's height, it is at this point that Factors Walk changes from being single-level to become two levels.
Claghorn and Cunningham Range is a historic range of buildings in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Located in Savannah's Historic District, the addresses of some of the properties are East Bay Street, above Factors Walk, while others solely utilize the former King Cotton warehouses on River Street. As of February 2022, the businesses occupying the ground floor of the River Street elevation are True Grits and Wet Willie's.
William Taylor Stores is a historic building in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Located in Savannah's Historic District, the addresses of some of the properties are West Bay Street, above Factors Walk, while others solely utilize the former King Cotton warehouses on River Street. As of February 2022, these are the Chart House Seafood in the eastern section, while Modern Travel Network and American Gift Shop occupy the western section. It is the oldest surviving structure on today's River Street, the oldest ballast-stone cotton warehouse in the country, and stated by the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) as being significant as an "early example of a multi-storied river embankment storage warehouse".
Factors Walk, also commonly spelled Factor's Walk or Factors' Walk, is a historic street in Savannah, Georgia, United States. It runs for about 0.4 miles (0.64 km) along the upper levels of the southern frontages of the buildings of Factors Row, which is located between River Street to the north and Bay Street, around 40 feet (12 m) above on the bluff, to the south. Although this difference in elevation was advantageous in terms of defense, it did not provide easy movement between the working waterfront and the city above.
Bay Street is a prominent street in Savannah, Georgia, United States. It runs for about 3.65 miles (5.87 km) from Main Street in the west to General McIntosh Boulevard in the east. The section passing through Savannah's downtown, between the Bay Street Viaduct in the west and General McIntosh Boulevard in the east, is around 1.2 miles (1.9 km) long.
The Wetter House was a residence in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Originally built in 1822, it was expanded and remodeled in 1857 for Augustus Wetter, a Savannah architect and businessman. Its demolition in 1950 was an impetus for the formation of the Historic Savannah Foundation in 1955.
Abercorn Street is a prominent street in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Located between Drayton Street to the west and Lincoln Street to the east, it runs for about 7.8 miles (12.6 km) from East Bay Street in the north to Harry S. Truman Parkway in the south. It is concurrent with SR 204 from 37th Street south. The street is named for James Hamilton, 6th Earl of Abercorn, a financial benefactor of the Georgia colony. Its northern section passes through the Savannah Historic District, a National Historic Landmark District.
Drayton Street is a prominent street in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Located between Bull Street to the west and Abercorn Street to the east, it runs for about 2 miles (3.2 km) from East Bay Street in the north to East Victory Drive in the south. It is named for Ann Drayton, a member of a noted family in Charleston, South Carolina, who had lent four sawyers to assist colonists in building one of the first homes in Savannah. The street is one-way (northbound). Its northern section passes through the Savannah Historic District, a National Historic Landmark District.
Lincoln Street is a prominent street in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Located between Abercorn Street to the west and Habersham Street to the east, it runs for about 2 miles (3.2 km) from East Bay Street in the north to East Victory Drive in the south. It is named for Benjamin Lincoln, a Revolutionary War hero. The street is one-way (northbound) south of Colonial Park Cemetery, which interrupts it between East Oglethorpe Avenue and East Perry Lane. The Lincoln Street Ramp leads down through Factors Walk to River Street and the Savannah River waterfront. Its northern section passes through the Savannah Historic District, a National Historic Landmark District.
Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard is a prominent street in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Located to the west of Montgomery Street, at the western edge of Savannah's downtown, it runs for about 2.48 miles (3.99 km) from West River Street in the north to Exchange Street in the south. Originally called West Broad Street, it was renamed for Martin Luther King Jr. in 1991. A memorial bust of King Jr., designed by Italian sculptor Franco Castelluccio and approved by his family, was officially unveiled at Martin Luther King Jr. Park in Savannah's Plant Riverside District on January 15, 2022. The memorial is located at the northern terminus of the boulevard, overlooking the Savannah River.