Greene Square is one of the 22 squares of Savannah, Georgia, United States. It is the easternmost square in the second row of the city's five rows of squares. The square is located on
Houston Street
Houston Street ( ) is a major east–west thoroughfare in Lower Manhattan in New York City, New York. It runs the full width of the island of Manhattan, from FDR Drive along the East River in the east to the West Side Highway along the Hudson ...
and East President Street, and is south of Washington Square, east of Columbia Square and north of Crawford Square. The oldest buildings on the square are at 510 East York Street, 509 East President Street (both former properties of George Jones) and 503 East President Street (Thomas Williams House), each in the southwestern trust/civic block, which are believed to have been built at the same time as the square itself (1799).
The square is named for Revolutionary War hero General
Nathanael Greene
Major general (United States), Major General Nathanael Greene (August 7, 1742 – June 19, 1786) was an American military officer and planter who served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War. He emerge ...
, an aide to
George Washington
George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...
Rhode Island
Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...
, Greene commanded Southern forces during the Revolution, and after the war settled at Mulberry Grove, an estate above Savannah. Greene, along with his son, is actually buried in Savannah's Johnson Square.
134 Houston Street, in the square's southeastern tything block, dates to the late 1800s.Historic Building Map: Savannah Historic District – Historic Preservation Department of the Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission (November 17, 2011), p. 31 Between 1899 and the mid-1900s it was the home of the
.''History of the Kindergarten Movement'', Association for Childhood Education (U.S.) Committee of nineteen (1935), p. 20
Greene Square was once the center of Savannah's African-American community.Tour Guide Manual for licensed tour guides in the City of Savannah, accessed June 16, 2007. In the northwestern trust lot is the Second African Baptist Church, the site where Union Army general
William Tecumseh Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman ( ; February 8, 1820February 14, 1891) was an American soldier, businessman, educator, and author. He served as a General officer, general in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865), earning recognit ...
announced Special Field Orders 15, better known as "40 acres and a mule".
546–548 East President Street (known as the Mary Cullum Property, now occupied by the Green Palm Inn) are two seamen's cottages, built circa 1897.
The John Dorsett House, in the northwestern tything, is the smallest free-standing house in the city, hence its nickname Tiny House. It was moved here from 422 Hull Street."Dix Fletcher" – ''The Savannah Biographies'', Jane Schulze (July 29, 1981), p. 4
In 1967, Savannah landscape architect
Clermont Huger Lee
Clermont Huger Lee (March 4, 1914 – June 14, 2006) was a landscape architect from Savannah, Georgia, most known for her work designing gardens and parks for historical landmarks in the state. Specifically, Lee is known for her designs such as th ...
and banker Mills B. Lane planned and initiated a project to replace the cistern that caved-in, design and install shoring, close the fire lane, and install new walks, benches, lighting and planting.
Dedication
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. They are listed with construction years where known.
;Northwestern tything/residential block
*Anderson Row, 502–512 East State Street (1890)
* 514 East State Street (1900)
* 516 East State Street (1900)
*Ann Rossiter House, 520 East State Street (1900)
*Henry Cunningham House, 117–119 Houston Street (1810) – built for Henry Cunningham, Free Man of Color. By 1812, it was the site of the Savannah Female Asylum
*James King House, 113 Houston Street (1854)
*51 East Broughton Lane
;Northwestern trust/civic block
*
Second African Baptist Church
Second African Baptist Church is a church in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Located in the northwestern trust/civic block of Greene Square, at 123 Houston Street, the church was founded on December 26, 1802, twenty-five years after the cit ...
, 123 Houston Street (1926)
*502–508 East President Street
;Southwestern trust/civic block
* 131 Houston Street (1807)
*Jeremiah Murphy House, 129 Houston Street (1904)
*George Jones House (1), 509 East President Street (1799–1808) – joint-oldest building on the square
*505 East President Street (1853)
*Thomas Williams House, 503 East President Street (1799–1808) – joint-oldest building on the square
*Anthony Mira House, 505 East President Street (1853)
*William Herman Duplex, 506–508 East York Street (1902)
*George Jones House (2), 510 East York Street (1799) – joint-oldest building on the square
;Southwestern tything/residential block
*Deitrich Oetjen House, 503 East York Street (1897)
* 507 East York Street (1839)
*Frederick Heineman Property (1), 509 East York Street (1839)
*Teresa Neve House, 511 East York Street (1855)
*Catherine Devaux House, 513 East York Street (1853)
* 515 East York Street (1853)
* Susannah Clarke Cottage, 517 East York Street (1801–1808)
*Edward White Cottage, 519 East York Street (1812)
*Margaret McDonald House, 521 East York Street (1883)
*Frederick Heineman Property (2), 140 Price Street (1828)
*515 East York Lane
*508 East York Lane (1828) – the rear of 140 Price Street
;Northeastern tything/residential block
*
Victorian
Victorian or Victorians may refer to:
19th century
* Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign
** Victorian architecture
** Victorian house
** Victorian decorative arts
** Victorian fashion
** Victorian literatur ...
cottages;About the Inn - Green Palm Inn's official website has been occupied by the Green Palm Inn since 1998. At that time the properties were combined into one.Green Palm Inn official website /ref> The properties were built for sea captains Samuel House and N. B. Sison.
*125 East Broad Street (1914)
;Southeastern trust/civic block
* 130 Houston Street
*570 East York Street (1878)
;Southeastern tything/residential block
*
, 134–142 Houston Street (late 1800s)
*545 East York Street
Gallery
File:536_East_State_Street.jpg, John Dorsett House, 536 East State Street
File:538_East_State_-_August_9%2C_2021.jpg, 538 East State Street
File:542_State_St_Sept_2_2019.jpg, 542 East State Street
File:503 East York Street.jpg, Deitrich Oetjen House, 503 East York Street
File:509 East York Street.jpg, Frederick Heineman Property (1), 509 East York Street
File:511 East York Street.jpg, Teresa Neve House, 511 East York Street
File:Catherine_Deveaux_House.jpg, Catherine Devaux House, 513 East York Street
File:Susannah Clarke House.jpg, Susannah Clarke Cottage, 517 East York Street
File:Edward_White_Cottage.jpg, Edward White Cottage, 519 East York Street
File:Margaret McDonald House.jpg, Margaret McDonald House, 521 East York Street
File:140 Price Street (2022).jpg, Frederick Heineman Property (2), 140 Price Street
File:James King House.jpg, James King House, 113 Houston Street
File:117-119 Houston Street.jpg, Henry Cunningham House, 117–119 Houston Street
File:Houston_Street,_Greene_Square,_Savannah,_Chatham_County,_Georgia.jpg, 124 Houston Street, a relatively late addition to the square, as it looked during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
File:Jeremiah Murphy House.jpg, Jeremiah Murphy House, 129 Houston Street
File:131 Houston Street.jpg, 131 Houston Street
File:Second_African_Baptist_Church_July_24_2021(b).jpg, Second African Baptist Church, 123 Houston Street
File:506-508 East York Street.jpg, William Herman Duplex, 506–508 East York Street
File:503 East President Street.jpg, Thomas Williams House, 503 East President Street
File:505 East President Street.jpg, Anthony Mira House, 505 East President Street
File:Green Palm Inn exterior.jpg, Mary Cullum Property (the Green Palm Inn, as of 2022), 546–548 East President Street
File:111 East Broad Street.jpg, 111 East Broad Street
File:134_Houston_Street.jpeg, Kate Baldwin Free Kindergarten (former), 134–142 Houston Street
File:502-512 East State Street.jpg, Anderson Row, 502–512 East State Street
File:Ann_Rossiter_House.jpg, Ann Rossiter House, 520 East State Street
File:Joseph Burke House.jpg, Joseph Burke House, 550 East State Street