Get your own Armillary Sphere

“What the heck is that thing?!” This might be the phrase most commonly heard in Troup Square, on Habersham Street.

It’s an Armillary Sphere: a model used to track celestial orbits, invented by the Greeks and in use up until the invention of the telescope in the 17th century. The sphere an odd choice for the middle of a square in Savannah, a city which wasn’t even founded until such celestial instruments were obsolete, but it’s pretty cool. Hey, you know where else you can find an Armillary Sphere? Portugal’s flag. No lie.

“What the heck is that thing?!” Of course, other people who utter this phrase in Troup Square might be referring to the doggie drinking fountain, which was moved here from its original location in Forsyth Park. It doesn’t even bother to have spouts for humans, and is the reason some residents refer to this area as “Dog Bone Square”.

Yet another oddity about Troup Square is that it’s the birthplace of Jingle Bells. You know that song, the one that goes, “Dashing through mildly pleasant winters, in a picturesque Victorian district, round the squares we go, drinking from plastic cups all the way”. The Unitarian Universalist Church, on the square’s west side is where James Pierpoint, the brother of the church’s reverend, wrote the famous song. Why he was inspired to write a sleighing song as he gazed out onto snow-less Troup Square is anyone’s guess.

Troup Square is one of Savannah‘s smaller squares, and one of the more recently built, in 1851. It was named after George Troup, the Georgian governor, who received the honor while he was still alive.

Location on our Savannah Map

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The Portrait in Clay Book

We’ve been lucky to meet some incredibly talented people during our time in Savannah, and recently had the opportunity to get to know Susie Chisolm, a sculptor who works out of City Market.

If you’ve spent time walking around the city, you’re probably already familiar with her most famous work: the Johnny Mercer statue at Ellis Square, where the famous songwriter immortally leans against a fire hydrant. She’s been commissioned for other public works as well, including a life-size sculpture of Charles Fraser, who was the developer most responsible for present-day Hilton Head.

For some reason, when I think “sculptor”, I think of an intense, morose and grimly industrious person. But that’s certainly not the case with Susie, who’s as warm and friendly as can be. We had a great time getting to know her, and learning her story. For someone so accomplished in her chosen art, Susie got a late start, only deciding to pursue sculpture in 1996 after participating in a local workshop. Almost instantly, she knew that sculpting was for her, that molding clay into shapes “made sense” to her in a way that other mediums didn’t, and she wasted no time in diving headlong into the practice. She even flew out to Cortona, Italy for a summer to learn from the masters.

What I know about sculpture could fit into a four-word sentence, so Susie’s detailed explanation of the process was instructive. While we were in her studio, she was working on the bust of a recently deceased man who had served in the army; a private commission from his family. She described how she forms the clay into a likeness of her subject, of whom she had multiple photographs pinned up. Though still in the beginning stages, the lump of brownish clay was already recognizably the man in the photos.

Suzie’s won a number of awards, and her work can be seen in Colorado, Texas and of course around Savannah. But even more than her accomplishments, what struck me was how sweet and down-to-earth she is. When we asked what her dream project might be, her eyes brightened and she said immediately that she’d love to do a statue of Forrest Gump for Chippewa Square. Now that’s a great idea… it’s kind of amazing the city hasn’t already done it! If you get a chance, swing by Susie’s studio, check out her work and say “hi”. In a city full of artists, she truly stands out.

Official Site
Location of Susie Chisholm’s Studio on our Savannah Map

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Bonaventure Books

Known as one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the entire country, Bonaventure is found on the outskirts of Savannah, bordering the Wilmington River across from Whitemarsh Island. Its name means “Good Fortune”, and those buried on its grounds might certainly consider themselves fortunate.

We’ve been tossing around the word “haunting” a lot as our exploration of Savannah continues, but what can we do? We’ll resort to it again with Bonaventure, where Spanish Moss hangs sorrowfully from every tree, casting broken light onto solemn fields of gravestones. Bonaventure Cemetery is absolutely haunting.

We wandered around for hours, discovering tombstones of exquisite craftsmanship and peculiar intrigue. There’s one in the form of a broken tree trunk. A grinning marathon runner. Obelisks and gates. Downcast girls holding flowers. Underground crypts. And of course, Little Gracie Watson.

Bonaventure is full of ghosts, and its most famous is that of Gracie Watson. In life, the vivacious daughter of the manager of the Pulaski House had been beloved by neighbors and well-known to the hotel’s guests. But pneumonia didn’t love Little Gracie. Pneumonia snuffed her out at the age of six. Her grief-stricken father commissioned the statue to mark her grave, and ever since, there have been rumors of the soft sobbing of a little girl in Bonaventure. The statue supposedly sheds tears, and screams out at night if someone removes one of her flowers.

Besides Gracie, a number of famous people rest their bones in Bonaventure, including Johnny Mercer, Conrad Aiken and Henry R. Jackson. One statue you won’t find there, though, is the Bird Girl statue made famous from the cover of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil — it’s been moved to the Telfair Museum of Art, for safekeeping. That’s a shame, but there’s plenty else to see in Bonaventure. Plan at least a couple hours.

Location on our Google Map

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