Savannah's River Street

Naturally, the area adjoining the Savannah River offers interesting history, as well as modern restaurants and entertainment.  The streets are comprised of "ballast stones," which were used by the ships for... you guessed it... ballast. 

Access ramp from Bay Street to River Street, still in use today

At the time of the Civil War, the price for cotton was established in two places: Savannah, GA and Liverpool, England.   Savannah, it was through the cotton exchange on Bay Street.

Note the bridge?  Bridges such as this would span the ballast stone streets below.  Brokers from the various cotton brokerage houses would stand on the bridges, examine the massive bails of cotton being transported below to waiting ships, and set the price.

The old cotton brokerage houses were in the buildings to the left

Savannah's Squares

Savannah was designed with 24 squares.  A couple have been used to construct new government buildings, but 20 or so remain.  The squares are shaded and great places to relax, read a book, or just meditate on the history that surrounds you.  Here are two in the historic district.

Lafayette Square

Thirty-acre Fosyth Park

Casimir Pulaski Monument in Savannah, or Pulaski Monument on Monterey Square, is a 19th-century monument to Casimir Pulaski, located at the Monterey Square not far from the battlefield where Pulaski lost his life during the siege of Savannah.

Sources vary with regards to when the cornerstone for the monument was placed, with either 1825, involving the presence of Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayett, or 1853 being given.

Savannah's Cathedral of St. John the Baptist

One of, if not the most beautiful structure in Savannah is the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.  Immigrants fleeing turmoil in Haiti and France established Savannah's first parish, the Congregation de Saint Jean-Baptiste, near the end of the 18th century.  Pope Pius IX erected the Diocese of Savannah on July 19, 1850, with the Right Reverend Francis X Gartland as the first bishop. Saint John the Baptist Church (the only Catholic church in Savannah) was repaired following hurricane damage, enlarged and named the Cathedral.