Books on German Immigration

Orleans Square, on Barnard Street, might as well be called Parking Lot Square. Sadly, it’s one of Savannah’s squares most negatively impacted by the thoughtless development boom of the mid-20th century.

The square itself is quite charming, with a large central fountain dedicated to the German immigrants to Savannah that was installed on the 250th anniversary of the founding of Georgia. But once you take your eyes off the ground and look around the square, the charm vanishes. The biggest blight is the Civic Center, whose backside and rear parking area mars the western end of Orleans Square. Five of the eight lots which surround Orleans are dedicated to parking. Another is occupied by SCAD’s gym.

Luckily, the houses which do survive on Orleans are beautiful, particularly the Harper Fowlkes House on 230 Barnard. Built in 1842 in the Greek Revival style, this house is occasionally open for tours and also serves as the Georgia headquarters for the Society of the Cincinnati. Another noteworthy home on Orleans is the Stephen Williams House, constructed in 1834 in the Federal style. It’s currently an inn with individually designed rooms.

Location on our Savannah Map
Harper Fowlkes House
Stephen Williams House Inn
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Make a Living with Antiques

I found myself in the middle of a fevered dream. Alone on the third floor of a house on Monterey Square, I knocked about a room filled with antiques. Chinese vases, broken beds. Faded photographs in golden frames with faces I faintly recognized. I climbed steps to the fourth floor and looked out a broken window at the nearby Mercer-Williams House. I shuddered. It was cold and in my haste to back up I stumbled, putting my foot into a hole in the floor, and narrowly avoided a crash into a warped, full-length mirror. “Time to wake up, Mikey”.

But this was no dream. I really was inside this store. This abandoned mansion filled with unbelievable antiques. I’ve never seen anything like Alex Raskin Antiques at 441 Bull Street.

Alex Raskin has been in the Noble Hardee mansion for 25 years, and has spent most of that time filling it with finds made at auctions around the world. We went inside knowing full well that we couldn’t afford to buy anything, but just wanting to see the house. Paint is peeling off the walls and windows are broken, but the dilapidation adds enormously to the charm. The guy working allowed us to wander around at our leisure, and the sheer vastness of the place won us over immediately.

It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but don’t hesitate to visit if you’re in the area. The antiques are amazing, expensive, and the eerie feeling inside this historic, deteriorated house is unmatchable.

441 Bull Street
(912) 232-8205 ‎
Location on our Savannah Map

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Lafayette Square, on the intersection of Abercorn and Macon, is named in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette. That fancy French aristocrat was a major Revolutionary War hero who made a big splash in Savannah with a speech delivered from the balcony of the Owens Thomas House.

Surrounding the square are a number of interesting buildings, including 1873′s Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, the biggest Catholic church in the region. The Cathedral’s proximity means Lafayette Square is subject to the madness which grips Savannah during St. Patrick’s Day. The water in the square’s fountain, built in memory of Georgia’s 250th anniversary, is dyed green.

On the western side of the square is the Andrew Low House. Andrew’s feisty daughter-in-law Juliette would found the Girl Scouts in this property’s carriage house, unwittingly releasing the horror of Thin Mints on future generations. Directly across the square we find the Hamilton-Turner Inn, a supremely elegant hotel with individually named and decorated rooms. It was the first house in Savannah with electricity, and gained infamy after falling under the care of Joe Odom — the party man so colorfully depicted in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

Another house of note is the Flannery O’Connor childhood home, on 207 East Charlton Street where she spent her first 13 years of life. It’s hard to imagine that Savannah’s strange, Southern atmosphere didn’t have a major influence on her strange, Southern writing. A Flannery O’Connor story smells like Spanish Moss.

So much history is found in every pocket of Savannah, it’s astounding. And Lafayette Square certainly has its share.

Location on our Savannah Map

The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist
Andrew Low House
Hamilton-Turner Inn
Flannery O’Connor’s Childhood Home