One of 22 surviving squares in Savannah, Lafayette Square was named in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette. It was laid out in 1837 and is adjacent to major landmarks including the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, the Flannery O’Connor Childhood Home, and the Andrew Low House. The fountain was placed by the Colonial Dames of America to mark Savannah’s 250th anniversary, in 1983.
Savannah National Historic Landmark District
The Andrew Low Carriage House*, at 330 Drayton Street, was the site of the first meeting of the troop of eighteen Girl Guides who would soon come to be known as the Girl Scouts. Juliette Magill Kinzie Gordon was born into an influential Savannah family on 31 October 1860. Her grandfather was the first president of the Central Railroad and Banking Company of Georgia, and her father, William Washington Gordon II, was a Confederate captain, brigadier-general in the Spanish-American War, and a Georgia legislator. She attended boarding schools in New Jersey and Virginia, and a French finishing school in New York City.
After completing her education, Juliette married William Mackay Low in 1886. Low was the son of Andrew Low, a wealthy cotton factor of Scottish origin who owned homes in Savannah and the United Kingdom. The young couple spent most of their time in England and Scotland. The union turned sour when Juliette discovered that William had moved his mistress into their home. In 1902 she filed for divorce, but William’s health was deteriorating and before the action could be finalized, he died in Wales, in 1905.
In 1911, Juliette Gordon Low met Sir Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides, and got involved with a troop of Girl Guides in Scotland. She brought the movement to Savannah and the first troop of eighteen Girl Guides met in the carriage house of the Low family mansion on 12 March 1912. The name was changed to the Girl Scouts in 1913. Low’s association with the Girl Scouts continued in various capacities until her death in 1927. The organization has served over 50 million girls in its long history and while it may be best known for its annual cookie sales, has enriched the lives of those who have been associated with it.
The carriage house has served various purposes within the Girl Scouts organization over the years and is presently a museum. It was the first structure in Savannah to receive National Historic Landmark status.
*-Designed by architect John Norris to complement the adjacent Andrew Low House, circa 1848-1849, this structure originally served as the carriage house and living quarters for domestic slaves. Thomas “Tom” Milledge (1818-1886) was the most entrusted of the domestic slaves and after emancipation, remained in the employee of the Low family as a butler. He lived in the carriage house with his wife Mosianna (1844-1909) and their children.
Juliette Gordon Low Historic District, Savannah National Historic Landmark District
This saltbox cottage, built some time between 1760-1767 and raised in 1871, is believed to be the oldest surviving structure in the city of Savannah [Wild Heron Plantation, outside the city, is the oldest structure in Chatham County, dating to circa 1756]. The balcony was remodeled in 1907. I have not been able to locate any information about Christian Camphor, however.
Savannah National Historic Landmark District
This iconic Savannah home was built for Israel Dasher (26 June 1814-3 February 1894), who came to the city from nearby Effingham County. The Dashers were a large Salzburger family connected to New Ebenezer and many of their relatives remain in the area.
Savannah National Historic Landmark District
I love seeing old murals around Savannah. They often bring character to otherwise easily overlooked places. Frank & Co. was a thriving dry goods wholesaler in late-19th-century Savannah.
Savannah National Historic Landmark District
A non-denominational sanctuary built for the Jekyll Island Club by architect Howard Constable, Faith Chapel is one of the best-known structures in the National Historic Landmark District. It features a window signed and personally installed by Louis Comfort Tiffany and another stained glass panel behind the pulpit depicting the Adoration of the Christ Child designed by Maitland Armstrong and his daughter Helen. The chapel is well-maintained today and is often used for weddings and open for tours at times.
The gargoyles are a copy of those found at Notre Dame de Paris.
Jekyll Island Historic District, National Register of Historic Places + National Historic Landmark
Villa Ospo was one of the last structures built in the Jekyll Island Club era. It took its name from the Guale word for either the island, or a village thereon, and has Spanish Eclectic and Italian Renaissance elements.
It was built by architect John Russell Pope* for Walter Jennings (14 September 1858-9 January 1933). Jennings was a member of Skull and Bones at Yale, a Columbia Law School classmate of Theodore Roosevelt, and director of Standard Oil of New Jersey. He was a student of history, as well, and helped successfully lobby the Georgia legislature to correct the long-used spelling ‘Jekyl’ to ‘Jekyll’, as it should have been all along since Oglethorpe named the island for Sir Joseph Jekyll.
*-Notably, Pope was also the architect of the Jefferson Memorial and the National Gallery of Art].
Jennings died here on 9 January 1933. He and his wife were injured in an automobile accident on Oglethorpe Road on 4 January and though a heart attack was listed as his cause of death, it’s possible this was brought on from injuries sustained in the accident.
Jekyll Island Historic District, National Register of Historic Places + National Historic Landmark
This Renaissance Revival Mediterranean-influenced “cottage” was built in 1917 for plumbing magnate Richard Teller Crane, Jr., (7 November 1873-7 November 1931). David Adler and Henry C. Dangler were the architects. Dangler died in 1917 and the house wasn’t completed and occupied until early 1919.
It was the largest and most elaborate home ever built on Jekyll Island.
It contained 30 rooms and 17 bathrooms , the pinnacle of modernity at the time.
The grounds and sunken garden are among the most beautifully landscaped public areas on the Georgia coast.
Jekyll Island Historic District, National Register of Historic Places + National Historic Landmark
One of the most beloved homes in the National Historic Landmark District, Moss Cottage was built for William Struthers, Jr., (15 June 1848-12 December 1911) in 1896. Though the architect is unknown, it’s possible that Struthers himself was involved in the design.
Struthers and his brother, John, owned one of the largest marble firms in the country. It was established by their architect grandfather, John Struthers, who worked with William Strickland on the iconic Second Bank of the United States in Philadelphia.
It was later occupied by George Henry Macy, Kate Carter Macy, and William Kingsland Macy.
Jekyll Island Historic District, National Register of Historic Places + National Historic Landmark
Note: This replaces a post originally published on 5 March 2012.
Henry Harford Cumming envisioned Augusta as the “Lowell of the South” [in reference to the textile hub in Massachusetts] and was the driving force behind the Augusta Canal. The first nine-mile section was completed between 1845-1846, and within a couple of years three mills had already been risen along the waterway. Built near the end of the Canal Era [roughly 1800-1850], it was amazingly successful, as most Southern canals never were, and is the only intact industrial canal still in use in the South today. It was lengthened and enlarged between 1872-1877. It was after this expansion that most of the mills associated with Augusta’s industrial heritage were constructed. These included the Enterprise, Blanche, Sibley, and King Mills. I believe the present gatehouse dates to the expansion period in the 1870s.
A V-shaped dam diverts the Savannah River at the headgates and below it are what is now known as the Savannah Rapids. It is a popular recreation area and a very picturesque location.
Along the walkway at the gatehouse you’ll notice hundreds, if not thousands, of modern padlocks. These have been left behind by visitors over the years, as a tongue-in-cheek tribute to the place. I’m not sure when the tradition started, but it has definitely caught on.
Augusta Canal Industrial District, National Register of Historic Places + National Historic Landmark + Augusta Canal National Heritage Area