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Gordonston, A Nice Place to Live

1/25/2019

The Gordon's Home

Savannah has some great neighborhoods. One of the first neighborhoods was Gordonston. It was founded in 1917. It was part of the storied Gordon family farm.The Gordon family was one of the most prestigious families in Savannah. William Washington Gordon was elected in 1834 as the mayor of Savannah and served in that position for two years. While serving as mayor he was elected to the Georgia General Assembly as a member of the House of Representatives in 1835. In 1838, he was elected to the Georgia Senate. He also founded and served as the first president of the Central Railroad and Banking Company of Georgia, A memorial was constructed on June 25, 1882 in Wright Square in his honor. To do so they destroyed the grave of Indian Chief Tomochichi. This caused a scandal in Savannah. His son, son’s wife, and granddaughter led in bringing Tomochichi’s granite moument that sits in the corner of Wright Square to somewhat rectify the situation.

Gordon’s son William Washington Gordon II was a Confederate Captain in the American Civil War, later serving as a Brigadier General in the United States Army during the Spanish–American War. He was also the chairman of the Savannah Cotton Exchange and vice-president of the Merchants' National Bank and a founding director of the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company.

Gordon II had a wife named Nellie Kinzie Gordon. She was from one of the founding families of Chicago. She was also prominent in the civic life of Savannah. She became responsible for starting two medical facilities for Spanish American Soldiers during the Spanish American War.

Gordon II and his wife Nellie were the parents of Juliette Low Gordon. Juliette was the founder of the Girl Scouts. This was the family who made Gordonston from their farm land. In 1917, William Washington Gordon III, along with his three sisters and one brother, inherited an approximately 80-acre tract of land east of downtown Savannah on what is now called Skidaway Road. W. W. Gordon purchased his sibling’s interest in the property and laid out a subdivision named Gordonston.

Gordonston is roughly bounded by Gwinnett Street to the north, Skidaway Road to the south, Goebel Avenue to the west and Pennsylvania Avenue to the east. Gordonston is distinguished by its Beaux-Arts inspired radial plan in which only Henry Avenue joins Savannah's established grid-iron plan of streets The Beaux-Arts radial plan, laid out by J. G. Langdon, is centered on Pierpont Circle, a small, landscaped park that serves as a central traffic. Kinzie and Anderson avenues have planted medians. Kinzie is planted with oak trees; Anderson is planted with Crepe Myrtle.

One of Savannah’s most prominent architects, Henrik Wallin designed at least one of the homes in Gordonston. Wallin was the architect of the Armstrong House next to Forsyth Park, First Baptist Church, Wallin Hall a SCAD building, to name a few. In Gordonston he designed the Colonial Revival-style house at 411 Gordonston Avenue in 1914.

One of the more significant markers of Gordonston is a landscaped park that was dedicated to the "children of Gordonston" by Juliette Low in 1926. the cornerstone was laid for the gates of Gordonston Memorial Park, and the park was dedicated to Willie and Nellie.

In the cornerstone Daisy [Juliette Gordon Low] placed the tools she had used in making the gates, and the stone pillars in which the gates are set have a daisy carved on each column. The park, which was also called Brownie Park and Gordon Memorial Park, was rededicated in the name of Juliette Gordon Low in 1940. Enclosed by an iron fence, the park contains a city well and a cabin built in the late 1940s for Girl Scout troop meetings. Oak and magnolia trees are found throughout the naturally landscaped park, with an understory of dogwoods, camellias, and azaleas. A trust established by the Low family provides funds for the maintenance of the park.

The home of William Washington Gordon III at 2 Pierpont Circle is on the register of the National Historic Homes. This neighborhood is known as one of Savannah’s best even to this day. The Gordons all lived prominent lives but one of the lasting vestiges of their time here is this neighborhood.

A home in Gordonston

Joggers running pass the gate to Gordonston Park

Original layout of Gordonston

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Savannah: Agricultural Innovator

1/13/2019

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Savannah has always been a city of innovation. Because of our size we often do not think of Savannah as a place for innovations. We look to New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago as the capitals of innovation. Yet Savannah especially in the world of agricultural crops has been a leader. Most have heard of the ten acres experimental gardens trustees Garden started by Oglethorpe. It brought to America specifically South Carolina and Georgia the peach. Although a failed experiment the growth of mulberry trees for silk worms in Savannah led to a Queen, Caroline, wearing a dress made of Savannah silk. But the most prominent and economic changing crop was the cultivation of upland cotton.

Cotton would change the fortunes for good and bad of southerners. As the south became the center of the world cotton empire. But Savannah is not only responsible for the introduction of the cotton plant to America it is also responsible for the ability to harvest it for a more productive use. The cotton gin improved on by Eli Whitney was done here on one of the storied plantations of Savannah: Mulberry Grove. Mulberry Grove was the home of Revolutionary War Hero Nathaniel Greene and his gregarious wife Caty.

You may have heard of the Historic plant collections at the University of Georgia Bamboo Farm and Coastal Gardens began in 1890, when Mrs. H. B. Miller planted three bamboo plants, obtained from Cuba, at a site in southwestern Savannah. Because th bamboo farm grew into a success it became an ideal spot for a plant introduction station. In 1919 Barbour Lathrop a supporter of U.S. plant exploration, purchased the forty-six-acre tract. Lathrop leased the property to the USDA for $1.

Charles Herty one of Savannah’s great men contributed to research and advocacy in the agriculture world. His first contribution was to use southern pines to create newsprint which became the source for the newspaper industry. This would explode the South’s pulp industry. He also worked to create a turpentine industry which helped preserve the trees to also be used to produce timber. The "Herty system" of collecting turpentine required less forestry expertise and labor. It also produced more turpentine without harming the pine tree.

But what you probably do not know about Savannah is its contribution to the soybean being cultivated in the United States. According to a historical marker “Samuel Bowen, a former seaman of the British East India Company, brought the soybean from China to Georgia in 1765. Bowen, with assistance from the Surveyor General of Georgia, Henry Yonge, cultivated the first soybean crop near Skidaway Island. Bowen’s successful soybean harvest led to the production of soy sauce and vermicelli (soybean noodles), both of which were exported to England.” Apparently, the legendary Greenwich plantation was the center of Bowen’s soybean operation. Today Greenwich Cemetery sits where the plantation once sat.

It is hard to think of the south without the thoughts of cotton, peaches, and pine trees. These are staple features of the south even to this day. But with the introduction of bamboo and soybeans Savannah introduces a bit of the exotic or more precisely the Asian. And where would America be without its Chinese restaurants even in the smallest of cities.

Eli Whtney's cotton gin

Greenwich Plantaton

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A Square as Reminder of Jim Crow Days

1/8/2019

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Crawford Square

Crawford Square is on Houston Street between Perry and Hull Streets and is the only square that is still fenced as all the squares were at one time. Crawford Sqaure is probably one of Savannah’s most unique squares. It was laid out in 1840 and was name for Savannah William Harris Crawford. He was a Georgia Senator, Minister to France, Secretary of Treasurer under James Madison as well as major candidate for President. The square is the smallest and was the only square that allowed blacks free use.

Crawford Square is the only square to retain part of its fence that all the squares originally had. You can see the multiple purposes squares were often used. After the great Savannah Fire of 1820 two cisterns were placed in the square to give access to firefighters for water to fight fires. These cisterns are partially revealed. In the middle of the square is a gazebo. And on one side of the square is a basketball court.
The basketball court is significant because of how it came to be. In the days of Jim Crow money for the black community and its recreation needs was not highly forthcoming. But the recreation department held a basketball tournament that is still held today and offer the winner of the tournament a basketball court. The Black team from the Crawford Square Neighborhood won the tournament and received the court that now stands in Crawford Square as an award. Through the years developers and others have wanted to do away with the court because of various reasons but the black community has insisted on the court remaining. Thus, it is the only square with a recreational use.
I imagine one day there may be a historical marker alongside the square marking where The Lady Chablis of the Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil fame lived before she became the star she was meant to be. The Square is a reminder of hard times for blacks but also of how they pulled together to create a good place to live.

The cisterns in Crawford Square

The basketball court in Crawford Square

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Historical Ruminations

Gordonston, A Nice Place to Live

Savannah: Agricultural Innovator

A Square as Reminder of Jim Crow Days

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