Early Urban Development of Savannah Georgia

The settlement of Savannah was established in 1733. Savannahs location was picked for its natural defenses, high ground situated between swamp land and a forty-foot high bluff overlooking the Savannah River.[1] Oglethorpe planned the settlement as a series of 540’ x 600’ wards. Each ward possesses a centralized public square around which equally sized building lots are arranged. [2] In 1733 four ward where created, one year later that number grew to six, and by 1800 the number of wards in savannah had doubled to twelve.

At the onset of the 19th century Savannah’s squares and street side benefited from a town wide landscaping initiative which reflected the growing tastes for romantic picturesque garden landscaping that had become popular in Europe.[3] In the 1840s, William Brown Hodgson conceived set aside 10 acres of woodlands for a public recreational park.[4] In 1851 these plans where realized in the form of Forsyth Park, named for Governor John Forsyth. The Park was designed by Bavarian landscape gardener William Biscoff.[5] A twenty-one-acre Park Extension was added in 1867. The Victorian era neighborhoods established after the creation of the Forsyth Park lacked the distinguishing garden squares of the older wards.

[1] “Our Georgia History: James Edward Oglethorpe”; available from http://ourgeorgiahistory.com/people/oglethorpe.html
[2] Savannah Area Convention & Visitors Bureau “Savannah’s history”; available from http://savannahvisit.com/media/savannahs-history.
[3] Turpin C. Bannister, “Oglethorpe's Sources for the Savannah Plan” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol. 20, No. 2 (May, 1961), pp. 47
[4] Georgia Historical Society, “Historic Marker Index”; available from http://www.georgiahistory.com/markers/49; Internet accessed 1 April 2010
[5] Turpin C. Bannister, “Oglethorpe's Sources for the Savannah Plan”, pp. 48