Trustees Garden and a Pirate's House

Pirate's House

In 1734 a house for a gardener for Georgia’s Trustees Gardens was built off Bay Street. It was called the Herb House. The Trustee’s Garden was an experimental garden that Oglethorpe, the founder of Georgia, started to see what was compatible to growing in Georgia’s environment. The garden never was able to get the longed-for silk and wine industries off the ground. But it did have success in assisting in two of Georgia’s most famous products: cotton and peaches.  That Herb House which stands as part of the Savannah’s famous Pirate’s House is Georgia’s oldest building.
In 1753 the garden was abandoned as the residents had been here long enough to discern what crops from abroad could best grow here. The house was converted into a bar and inn for sailors. It took the name of the Pirate’s House Inn and has, in one form or another, maintained that moniker since then. Sailors from as far away as Singapore took refuge here. The house became somewhat of a no-man’s land for the citizens of Savannah because of the characters and drunken debauchery found there.
It took its place in literary fame in Robert Louis Stevenson’s pirate novel Treasure Island written in 1881. In the beginning of the book the flamboyant pirate Captain Flint died in a pirate’s tavern in Savannah. In story and in reality fame the Pirate’s House had an underground tunnel that went to the river. It is said the tunnel was used in the early years for transporting rum to Savannah, which had a prohibition against alcohol. Another use was to kidnap drunken sailors to serve on ships in need of crews.
In more recent history, part of it was used to house Hard Hearted Hannah’s East a nightclub owned by Savannah’s legendary bassist Ben Tucker. But after a major restoration which earned it the approval of the American Museum Society. The society lists it as a "House Museum". Currently, it has fifteen separate roaming dining rooms on the first floor of a popular restaurant rightfully called The Pirate’s House. It is also said to be haunted by a pirate, and ghost tours mention its ghost quite frequently.
The early days of this infamous place can be captured in the lyrics of the Ella Fitzgerald song below:
 
"Hard Hearted Hannah"
In old Savannah, I said Savannah,
The weather there is nice and warm!
The climates of a Southern brand,
But here's what I don't understand:
They got a gal there, mighty pretty gal there,
Who's colder than an Arctic storm,
Got a heart just like a stone,
Even the ice men leave her alone!

They call her Hard Hearted Hannah,
The vamp of Savannah,
The meanest gal in town;
Leather is tough, but Hannah's heart is tougher,
She's a gal who loves to see men suffer!
To tease 'em, and thrill 'em, to torture and kill 'em,
Is her delight, they say,
I saw her at the seashore with a great big pan,
There was Hannah pouring water on a drowning man!
She's Hard Hearted Hannah, the vamp of Savannah, GA!

They call her Hard Hearted Hannah,
The vamp of Savannah,
The meanest gal in town;
Talk of your cold, refrigeratin' mamas,
Brother, she's a polar bear's pajamas!
To tease 'em, and thrill 'em, to torture and kill 'em,
Is her delight, they say,
An evening spent with Hannah sittin' on your knees,
Is like travelin' through Alaska in your BVDs.
She's Hard Hearted Hannah, the vamp of Savannah, GA!

Can you imagine a woman as cold as Hannah?
She's got the right name: The vamp of Savannah.
Any time a woman can take a great big pan
And start pouring water on a drownin' man
She's hard hearted Hannah
The Vamp of Savannah GA
 
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Hard Hearted Hannah's Entrance

The old Gardener's Shed