Walkabout With Wheels Blog: Sightseeing in Savannah, Georgia on Old Town Trolley Tours

Eric picked up this flier for
Old Town Trolley Tours
earlier this month at the
Georgia Visitors Center
in Plains.

The flier included a
discount coupon.

This is our second visit to Savannah and we wanted a tour of the historic district to have a greater understanding of city's past.

There are 16 spots around

Savannah where Eric & I

hop on & off the trolley.

City Market covers
four city blocks.

A memorial marks the site of

the first Jewish Burial Ground

in Savannah.

Jews were originally banned from the Georgia Colony. When 42 Jews, including Dr. Samuel Nunes, arrived in 1733, they were welcomed by General James E. Oglethorpe. Dr. Nunes treated Yellow Fever patients in the colony.

A distinctive cast iron "Dolphin"
downspout on the Dr. James
Johnson Waring house,
built in 1831.

A red telephone box sits

outside the Six Pence Pub.

We pass grand homes.

Union General William Tecumseh Sherman and his army started marching across Georgia in September, 1864, spreading fear among the civilian population. Troops under his command raided farms; stole food and farm animals and burned what they could not carry.

While planning a siege of Savannah, Confederate troops withdrew and the city surrendered, Mr. Charles T. Green offered the use his home as the General's headquarters. Besides preserving his own home, Mr. Green's gracious gesture helped save Savannah from destruction.

This quiet, shaded spot is

Savannah's dueling grounds.

Conveniently located next to

Colonial Park Cemetery.

Interesting factoids from the tour:

General Sherman's Cavalry was quartered in the cemetery because it was fenced in. The horses knocked down head stones, which have been lined up against the fence.

Union soldiers, many of them in their teens, grew bored with their quarters while in the city. They changed birth and death dates on some of the headstones. In one case, an altered headstone shows the husband's death date was before his wife was born.

Savannah's history can be seen in its churches.

The Cathedral of Saint John

the Baptist congregation

was established by French

emigres in the late 1700s.

The Pirates' House is the
oldest surviving structure
in Savannah.

More fun factoids from the Old Town Trolley Tours:
The charter for the Georgia Colony forbade "strong spirits." Wine and beer were legal and distilled alcohol was illegal. Pirates tunneled from this building to the port an smuggled rum and other liquors into their headquarters.
Visitors who drank too much were in for a cruel fate... They woke up on strange ships and were pressed into service for the length of the cruise. The best these shanghaied men could hope for was to jump ship and make their way home, possibly from a strange country, with no money and no friends to rely on for help.

Ballast Stones from ships

were used to build this

retaining wall, staircase, for

street paving & building

construction in the

Riverfront district.

Savannah Riverrfront fun factoids:
The Savannah River was originally 12 feet deep in colonial times. It has been dredged and re-dredged over the years, accommodating larger ships, over 100 feet tall.
The Port of Savannah is a major port on the east coast.

Emmet Park, located above
the Riverfront has a Celtic
Cross to honor Savannah's
Irish residents.

Savannah hosts a huge Saint Patrick's Celebration every year.