... another thing on Dave's bucket list, I've come to learn. Savannah, Georgia. And now that we've spent 3 days there, I certainly understand why.
Your quick history lesson, thanks to Wikkepedia:
"Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the
Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial centre and an important Atlantic seaport. It is Georgia's fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area. Each year Savannah attracts millions of visitors, who enjoy the city's architecture and historic buildings: the birthplace of
Juliette Gordon Low (founder of the
Girl Scouts of the United States of America), the
Georgia Historical Society (the oldest continually operating historical society in the South), the
Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences (one of the South's first public museums), the
First African Baptist Church (one of the oldest African American Baptist congregations in the United States),
Temple Mickve Israel (the third oldest synagogue in America), and the
Central of Georgia Railway roundhouse complex (the oldest standing antebellum rail facility in America).
Savannah's downtown area, which includes the
Savannah Historic District, the
Savannah Victorian Historic District and 22 parklike squares, is one of the largest National Historic Landmark Districts in the United States (designated by the U.S. government in 1966)."
And, did you know it's considered the most haunted city in America??? So let's start there. Those of you who know me well may or may not know that I love having the s*** scared out of me (within reason, of course!). So when I learned of Savannah's status as the most haunted city in America, I HAD to do a Ghost Tour. There are a ton of different tours, but based on the experts (TripAdvisor:) we went with a walking tour offered by 6th Sense Ghost Tours. We met our tour guide, Nick, in a parking lot on the north corner of Forsythe Park at 9:30pm. He was a true story teller (we suspect he may be enrolled in the acting program at the Savannah College School of Art and Design) and had us captivated the whole 2 hours of the tour.
We learned that many activities in Savannah over the years combine to make it ripe for paranormal activity - many years of shanghaiing; 3 yellow fever outbreaks; tons of pirate activity; and most importantly the fact that much of the city is built on top of graveyards!!!! BOO (scare ya???) The tour was fantastic and surprisingly enough, I was actually able to get to sleep afterwards. Nick took us to 4 private homes, where we stood on the abutting sidewalks and learned of the unfortunate fate of the residents of years gone by.
Here's a picture of Nick using the flashlight app on his I Phone to show us a missing tip on this decorative wrought iron fence (embedded in the skull of a young boy after he was pushed off the roof of the house by something that no one could see!!)
We spent a LOT of time outside the site of the former Candler Hospital.
Here's some information on the hospital posted to the Internet:
"There is perhaps no building in the City of Savannah that has witnessed as much misery and death, as the old Candler Hospital. Founded in 1808 as a seaman’s hospital and poor house, Candler is the oldest hospital in the state of Georgia. Formerly known as Savannah Hospital, it was moved to the current location on Drayton Street, just across from Forsyth Park. The original structure, which has been empty for nearly two decades, was once used as a Union hospital, as well as a hospital where hundreds of patients died of Yellow Fever. It has also been used as an insane asylum.
In the summer of 1876, at the height of Savannah’s greatest Yellow Fever epidemic, 276 people died in a period of 48 hours. So great were the number of corpses that doctors feared the further spread of disease. They also feared the panic that would ensue should citizens of the fair city witness the caravan of bodies being transported from the hospital. And so they dug a tunnel. Approximately 12 feet beneath the surface lie a tunnel that stretches across the current parking lot, across Drayton Street, and conveniently deposits itself into the then wooded grounds of Forsyth Park. Through this tunnel hundreds of bodies of Yellow Fever victims were transported just beneath the charm of Victorian Savannah. Though the people of Savannah were well aware of the epidemic, as it had claimed nearly 10% of Savannah’s population each year, the “ugliness” of it was kept concealed. The Candler tunnel also served as an excellent morgue, the coolness of which allowed bodies to be stored while they awaited burial."
Funny this author/historian didn't mention the hanging tree on the property
Oh, by the way, the property is for sale. Interested????
Oh ya, my normally overactive mind went NUTS on this tour!!!
