Franklin Square is one of the 22 squares of Savannah, Georgia, United States. It is located in the northernmost row of the city's five rows of squares, at

Montgomery Street Montgomery Street is a north-south thoroughfare in San Francisco, California, in the United States. It runs about 16 blocks from the residential Telegraph Hill, San Francisco, Telegraph Hill neighborhood south through downtown San Francisco, ...

and West St. Julian Street. It is west of Ellis Square in the northwestern corner of the city's grid of squares. The square now anchors the western end of the City Market retail area. The oldest building on the square is 317 West Bryan Street, the Abram Minis Building, which dates to 1846. The square is named for

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

, one of the

Founding Fathers of the United States The Founding Fathers of the United States, often simply referred to as the Founding Fathers or the Founders, were a group of late-18th-century American Revolution, American revolutionary leaders who United Colonies, united the Thirteen Colon ...

. The Great Savannah Fire of 1820 started in a livery stable on the square. The square once contained a -tall water tower to distribute water to residents. It was built with after the previous system of public and private surface wells was overwhelmed by the rising population of the city. The water was taken out of the Savannah River west of the Ogelthorpe Canal Basin before being filtered and pumped up to the water tower. Because of the tower, Franklin Square was also known as Water Tank Square and Water Tower Square. It was later nicknamed Reservoir Square, after an high

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

which occupied the square in the 19th century. It held around 180,000 gallons of water. The square was destroyed in 1935 with the routing of

U.S. Highway 17 U.S. Route 17 or U.S. Highway 17 (US 17), also known as the Coastal Highway, is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that spans in the Southeastern United States. It runs close to the Atlantic Coast for much of its len ...

on Montgomery Street but was restored in the mid-1980s. In 1967, Montgomery Street was changed from two-way to one-way between Jones and Bay streets; in 1985, however, to assist with the restoration of Franklin Square, it was restored to two-way traffic between Bay and Broughton streets. In 2019, the bi-directional traffic flow was extended from Broughton to Liberty streets. Bethel Church stood in the southwestern trust/civic block in the late 19th century. It was replaced by a brick warehouse. Sweet Georgia Brown's, a

piano bar A piano bar (also known as a piano lounge) consists of a piano or electronic keyboard played by a professional musician as a central part of an establishment that also serves alcoholic drinks. Piano bars can be located in a cocktail lounge, bar ...

which gained popularity after its appearance in

John Berendt John Berendt (born December 5, 1939) is an American author, known for writing the best-selling non-fiction book '' Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'', which was a finalist for the 1995 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction, and '' The Ci ...

's 1994 book ''

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil ''Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'' is a non-fiction novel by John Berendt. The book, Berendt's first, was published on January 10, 1994, and follows the story of Jim Williams, an antiques dealer on trial for the killing of Danny Hansf ...

'', was located at 312 West St. Julian Street.

Dedication

Markers and structures

Constituent buildings

Each building below is in one of the eight blocks around the square composed of four residential "tything" blocks and four civic ("trust") blocks, now known as the

Oglethorpe Plan The Oglethorpe Plan is an urban planning idea that was most notably used in Savannah, Georgia, one of the Thirteen Colonies, in the 18th century. The plan uses a distinctive street network with repeating squares of residential blocks, commercia ...

. They are listed with construction years where known. ;Northwestern residential/tything block *418 West Bryan Street (1910) *420 West Bryan Street (1912) *14 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (1891/1924) ;Northwestern trust/civic block * First African Baptist Church, 23 Montgomery Street (1859) ;Southwestern residential/tything block *Augustus Walter Building, 401–405 West Congress Street (1867/1870) *407–415 West Congress Street (1870/1872) *James Brannen Building, 419–423 West Congress Street (1875) – third story added 1906; roof development is 21st century ;Northeastern trust/civic block *Abram Minis Building, 317 West Bryan Street (20–22 Montgomery Street) (1846)Historic Building Map: Savannah Historic District
– Historic Preservation Department of the Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission (November 17, 2011), p. 4 – oldest building on the square; Vinnie Van GoGo's as of 2021 *301–305 West St. Julian Street (1855) *302 West St. Julian Street (1855) – A. T. Hun Art Gallery as of 2021 *304 West St. Julian Street (c. 1855) *310 West St. Julian Street (1884) *312 West St. Julian Street (1860) *314–316 West St. Julian Street (1870) ;Southeastern trust/civic block *Charles Lamar Properties, 305–307 West St. Julian Street (1892) *309–315 West St. Julian Street (1902) ;Southeastern residential/tything block *George Hardcastle Building, 30–38 Montgomery Street (1855) *Charles Meitzler Building, 307–309 West Congress Street (1875) *Germania Fire Company, 315 West Congress Street (1871)

Gallery

File:418 West Bryan Street.jpg, 418 West Bryan Street File:420 West Bryan Street.jpg, 420 West Bryan Street File:First African Baptist Church, Savannah (Chatham County, Georgia).JPG, First African Baptist Church, 23 Montgomery Street File:Augustus Walter Building (1).jpg, Augustus Walter Building, 401–403 West Congress Street File:Augustus Walter Building (2).jpg, Augustus Walter Building, 405 West Congress Street File:James Brannen Building.jpg, James Brannen Building, 419–423 West Congress Street File:Savannah Historic District (Savannah, Georgia) 3 17.JPG, Abram Minis Building, 20–22 Montgomery Street/317 West Bryan Street File:Savannah's Candy Kitchen.jpg, 312 West St. Julian Street File:314 West St. Julian Street.jpg, 314 West St. Julian Street File:Savannah Historic District (Savannah, Georgia) 3 20.JPG, The side of 315 West St. Julian Street, from Montgomery Street File:Savannah Historic District (Savannah, Georgia) 3 21.JPG, Immediately around the corner to the right, 310–312 West Congress Street, the frontages of the previous properties File:305-307 West St. Julian Street.jpg, Charles Lamar Properties, 305–307 West St. Julian Street File:309-315 West St. Julian Street.jpg, 309–315 West St. Julian Street, formerly known as the Reservoir Mills File:Abraham Minis Property (2).jpg, 302–204 West Bryan Street File:305 West Bryan Street.jpg, 305 West Bryan Street File:30-38 Montgomery Street.jpg, George Hardcastle Building, 30–38 Montgomery Street File:Charles Meitzler Building.jpg, Charles Meitzler Building, 307–309 West Congress Street File:Germania Fire Company.jpg, Germania Fire Company, 315 West Congress Street

References

Sources

* {{Squares of Savannah, Georgia Franklin Square (Savannah, Georgia) 1790 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)