Emmet Park, also known as The Strand, is an

urban park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to r ...

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the British colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later t ...

, United States. Its most prominent section is located in the northeastern corner of the city's historic downtown area, in what was known as the Old Fort neighborhood, it continues in a dotted fashion for around west along

Bay Street Bay Street is a major thoroughfare in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the centre of Toronto's Financial District and is often used by metonymy to refer to Canada's financial services industry since succeeding Montreal's St. James Stre ...

to its intersection with Jefferson Street. Monuments occupy several of the individual sections.

History

Formerly known as the Irish Green, established with the help of

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 ...

native William Kehoe, the park was named in 1902 for Irish orator

Robert Emmet Robert Emmet (4 March 177820 September 1803) was an Irish Republican, orator and rebel leader. Following the suppression of the United Irish uprising in 1798, he sought to organise a renewed attempt to overthrow the British Crown and Prote ...

,"Five key Irish contributors to Savannah’s history, heritage"
- ''

Savannah Morning News The ''Savannah Morning News'' is a daily newspaper in Savannah, Georgia. It is published by Gannett. The motto of the paper is "Light of the Coastal Empire and Lowcountry". The paper serves Savannah, its metropolitan area, and parts of South ...

'', March 6, 2019 in commemoration of the centennial of his death,Savannah’s Irish and Robert Emmet Park
-

Georgia Historical Society The Georgia Historical Society (GHS) is a statewide historical society in Georgia. Headquartered in Savannah, Georgia, GHS is one of the oldest historical organizations in the United States. Since 1839, the society has collected, examined, and tau ...

although Emmet did not visit Savannah during his life. Two memorials stand in Emmet Park: an Irish Celtic Cross memorial, a

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

veterans memorial, a

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

memorial, a

Chatham Artillery The Chatham Artillery is an artillery unit that has played a leading role in the history of the state of Georgia since the American Revolution. In 1776, Thomas Lee was authorized to enlist a provincial company of artillery for the defense of Sav ...

memorial and a memorial to Dr.

Noble Wimberly Jones Noble Wimberly Jones (c. 1723 – January 9, 1805) was an American physician and statesman from Savannah, Georgia. A leading Georgia patriot in the American Revolution, he served as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1781 and 1782. ...

. Old Harbor Light also stands in the park, at its eastern extremity. It was erected in 1858. The park is a focal point for Savannah's

Saint Patrick's Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick ( ga, Lá Fhéile Pádraig, lit=the Day of the Festival of Patrick), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patr ...

celebration, one of the country's largest after

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

.Monaco, Rachael (March 10, 2013). "Second oldest St. Patrick’s Day parade in United States hosted by Philadelphians." ''Examiner.'' Denver, CO: Clarity Digital Group, LLC.

Live oaks

The

live oak Live oak or evergreen oak is any of a number of oaks in several different sections of the genus ''Quercus'' that share the characteristic of evergreen foliage. These oaks are not more closely related to each other than they are to other oaks. ...

trees that line the sidewalk between The Strand and Bay Street were first planted in 1857. They replaced rows of

Chinaberry ''Melia azedarach'', commonly known as the chinaberry tree, pride of India, bead-tree, Cape lilac, syringa berrytree, Persian lilac, Indian lilac, or white cedar, is a species of deciduous tree in the mahogany family, Meliaceae, that is native ...

trees that were planted in the late 18th century."Savannah's Historic Waterfront An Architectural and Urban Tour"
– Dr Robin Williams, the Chair of Architectural History at

Savannah College of Art and Design Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) is a private nonprofit art school with locations in Savannah, Georgia; Atlanta, Georgia; and Lacoste, France. Founded in 1978 to provide degrees in programs not yet offered in the southeast of the Uni ...

, Urban Traces,

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

, May 4, 2020 (Emmet Park section begins at 30:00)

Gallery

Old Harbor Beacon, Savannah (Chatham County, Georgia).JPG, Old Harbor Light File:Historic American Buildings Survey Branan Sanders, Photographer 1934 - Old Harbor Beacon, Savannah, Chatham County, GA HABS GA,26-SAV,23-1.tif, The light in 1934, looking southwest across the park

References

External links

Emmet Park information board, erected in 2003
Urban public parks Parks in Savannah, Georgia 1902 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) {{ChathamCountyGA-geo-stub