Discover Savannah
Savannah's historic street pattern was designed around repeated neighborhood units rather than a single central square. In the plan associated with James Oglethorpe's 1733 settlement, each ward combined a public square with residential blocks and trust lots for community uses. As the town expanded, this arrangement gave new neighborhoods recognizable centers of their own. The squares are therefore part of the city's organizing structure, not simply leftover open land between streets.
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The settlement occupied a bluff above the Savannah River. That relationship between the riverfront and the planned town is important to reading the historic center: the waterfront and the repeating inland squares served different purposes. National Park Service teaching material explains the ward system and the terms used in its early plans, making it a useful resource for understanding what a modern street map still preserves.
Forsyth Park represents a later expansion of public space. Established in the 1840s with an initial ten acres, it grew to thirty acres and was named for John Forsyth. Its fountain has an industrial-design story of its own. The city identifies it as Model 5 from the catalog of Janes, Beebe and Company, rather than a sculpture designed exclusively for Savannah. It was installed in July 1858 and first operated the following month.
Together, the ward plan and Forsyth Park show two different approaches to shared space: a network of neighborhood squares and a larger park developed during the nineteenth century.
Sources
- National Park Service: Savannah, the Lasting Legacy of Colonial City Planning: https://www.nps.gov/articles/savannah-georgia-the-lasting-legacy-of-colonial-city-planning-teaching-with-historic-places.htm
- City of Savannah: Forsyth Park: https://savannahga.gov/4103/Forsyth-Park
- City of Savannah: Forsyth Fountain Restoration Project: https://www.savannahga.gov/4152/Forsyth-Fountain-Restoration-Project
