Found in the old railway shed of the Central of Georgia, the Savannah History Museum is a good place to stop when just arriving in Savannah, for an overview of the city’s development through the ages.

The railway house, a National Historic Landmark, is interesting in its own right. Built in the 1850s, it’s the nation’s only remaining iron-roof structure and was important as an early example of a train/shop complex. Under the same roof is Savannah’s tourist information center and a neat cafe which occupies an old passenger car.

Visits to the museum begin with a 20-minute video detailing the history of Savannah — from Oglethorpe and the settlers up into the “present”-day. The video is at least twenty years old, so its idea of modernity is amusingly stuck in the early 90s, with a power-suited poofy-haired businesswoman walking briskly down Bull Street representing “progress”. The museum exhibits are hit and miss … for every item of interest, such as one of the country’s few remaining Crestmobiles, there’s something like the Forrest Gump bench. Well, not the Forrest Gump bench, but a replica of what it kind of looked like. You know: a bench.

The museum doesn’t take long to get through, but at just $5 per adult, it’s cheap and provides a good overview of the city. There are a lot of hands-on activities, so I could see kids having a lot of fun there.

Savannah History Museum

303 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd
Location on our Savannah Map
912 651 6825

- Forrest Gump the Movie

The Savannah College of Art and Design: Restoration of an Architectural Heritage

We stopped by the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences recently, found on the eastern side of Telfair Square. The Regency style mansion was built by William Jay for the family, but has been used as a museum since 1886, making it the oldest public art museum in the South.

The museum isn’t huge, but the lack in size is more than made up for in quality — both of the artwork on display, and of the mansion itself. We had a great time going through each of the rooms to admire permanent collections and temporary exhibitions. One of the more impressive rooms had no artwork at all… just an octagonal study outfitted with 19th century furniture. We also liked the kitchen gallery; a neat fusion of the mansion’s original and current lives.

But our favorite room was the main rotunda, featuring extremely high ceilings, gigantic canvases and a plush bench in the center, where visitors could relax and study the artwork at leisure. I spent probably 20 minutes taking in Julian Story’s 17-foot long The Black Prince at Crécy, from 1888.

We’d be remiss not to mention the famous Bird Girl statue, famous as the cover to The Book. Yes, the Telfair Academy snatched it out of Bonaventure Cemetery (to “protect it” of course), and now it’s in their museum. Behind their paywall. Honestly though, removed from the cemetery, the statue loses all of its haunting magic.

Entrance to the Telfair Academy will set you back $20. That’s a crazy price, though it also gets you into the Owen Thomas House and the Jepson Center. Still — it strikes us as more than a little scammy that they don’t offer cheaper admissions to the individual spots, in addition to the package deal. What if you’re only interested in classic art? Or if you only want to see a historic home? Well, too bad! We didn’t have a good time at the Owen Thomas House, and blew through the gleaming, sterile Jepson Center with its hilariously pretentious modern “art” in about 5 minutes flat. The Telfair Academy is definitely the highlight of the bunch … but at $20? I don’t know. It’s your money, do what you want.

Location on our Savannah Map

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Book: S. S. Savannah, the Elegant Steam Ship

On MLK Boulevard near River Street, one of the most historic houses in Savannah is home to a museum called The Ships of the Sea. The 1819 Scarborough House was designed in the Greek Revival style by architectural wunderkind William Jay, who was responsible for many of the city’s best houses of that time period.

William Scarborough made his fortune in shipping, and was the mastermind behind the famous S.S. Savannah — the first steamship to successfully cross the Atlantic, in 1839. Although it was one of the city’s proudest moments, luring even President Monroe to commemorate the occasion, the venture was a commercial failure, and Scarborough fell into bankruptcy. His handsome house was sold off at auction, and would serve as both an orphanage and Savannah’s first public school for black children, before finally being abandoned and falling into ruin.

In 1972, the Historic Savannah Foundation stepped in and begun restoration on the house. Keeping in mind Scarborough’s line of work, the house was converted into a maritime museum — The Ships of the Sea, with large scale model ships, and a wealth of information about the lines which operated out of Savannah, as well as famous ships from around the world.

We really enjoyed our visit to the Scarborough House. The ticket lady was super-friendly, and the house is just as interesting for its architecture as for the exhibition pieces. I’ve never been much interested in boats, truth be told, and I didn’t expect the museum to impress me. But it did. The ships were incredible, their stories interesting, and I especially loved the collection of nautical equipment and scrimshaw.

Check out our pictures and make sure to stop by — entrance is just $8.

Ships of the Sea
The Scarborough House
41 M.L. King Boulevard
Location on our Savannah Map
(912) 232-1511