Johnson Square - Where the Plan Began

Johnson Square - Where the Plan Began

Photo: Tjbliss, CC BY 4.0 (cropped)

A stop on Savannah, a free self-guided tour.

This is where Savannah began. Johnson Square was the first square laid out in 1733, and it is still the largest. It is named for Robert Johnson, the governor of South Carolina who helped the new colony get started.

Look around and you can read James Oglethorpe's plan. Each ward was built around a square like this one. House lots, called tythings, lined two sides, and larger trust lots on the other two sides were saved for churches and public buildings. That is why Christ Church, the colony's first congregation, faces the square from its trust lot.

The tall white obelisk honors Nathanael Greene, a Revolutionary War general who settled near Savannah after the war. Georgia's founders also tried something unusual: at first they banned slavery in the colony. The ban ended in 1751, and enslaved labor soon built much of the city you are about to see. Keep that in mind as you walk.

Getting here: Begin in the middle of Johnson Square, next to the Nathanael Greene monument.

Did you know?: The Marquis de Lafayette laid the cornerstone of the Greene monument in 1825, but Greene's remains were only moved here in 1901, after they were found again in an old family vault.

Photo op: Stand at the south side of the square and frame the obelisk with Christ Church's white columns behind it.

More on Wikipedia: Johnson Square · Oglethorpe Plan · James Oglethorpe · Nathanael Greene

Stops on this tour

  1. Johnson Square - Where the Plan Began
  2. River Street and Factors Walk - Built on Cotton
  3. City Market and Ellis Square - A Square Won Back
  4. First African Baptist Church - A Congregation's Own Bricks
  5. Wright Square - Tomochichi's Resting Place
  6. Owens-Thomas House - Regency Mansion and Slave Quarters
  7. Chippewa Square - Oglethorpe Stands Guard
  8. Madison Square - Battle Lines and a Christmas Gift
  9. Cathedral of St. John the Baptist - Twin Spires
  10. Taylor Square - A New Name for an Old Square
  11. Monterey Square - Pulaski and the Mercer House
  12. Forsyth Park Fountain - The Grand Finale