Johnson Square (Savannah, Georgia)

Johnson Square is one of the 22 squares of Savannah, Georgia, United States. Located in the northernmost row of the city's five rows of squares, it was the first of the squares to be laid out, in 1733, and remains the largest of the 22. It is east of Ellis Square, west of Reynolds Square and north of Wright Square. Situated on Bull Street and St. Julian Street, it is named for Robert Johnson, colonial governor of South Carolina and a friend of General James Oglethorpe.''Savannah Scene''
magazine, May–June 2007, pp 10–11, accessed June 16, 2007.City of Savannah's monuments page
This page links directly to numerous short entries, many accompanied by photographs, discussing a variety of monuments, memorials, etc., in the squares and elsewhere. Accessed June 16, 2007. The oldest building on the square is the Ann Hamilton House, at 26 East Bryan Street, which dates to 1824.

Interred under his monument in the square is Revolutionary War hero General Nathanael Greene, the namesake of nearby Greene Square. Greene died in 1786 and was buried in Savannah's Colonial Park Cemetery in 1793. Following vandalism of the cemetery by occupying Union forces during the Civil War the location of Greene's burial was lost. After the remains were re-identified, Greene and his son were moved to Johnson Square. An obelisk in the center of the square now serves as a memorial to General Greene. The cornerstone of the monument was laid by Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, in 1825. At that time the obelisk did not yet commemorate any specific individual or event. In fact, due to financial restrictions the unmarked obelisk served for several years as a joint monument to both Greene and Casimir Pulaski. Inscriptions honoring Greene were added in 1886, but his physical remains did not arrive until 1901, following their "rediscovery."Tour Guide Manual
for licensed tour guides in the City of Savannah, accessed June 16, 2007.
accessed June 16, 2007.

Johnson Square contains two fountains, as well as a sundial.

Another landmark of Johnson Square is the Johnson Square Business Center. This building, formerly known as the Savannah Bank Building, was the city's first "skyscraper", built in 1911. Johnson Square is known as the financial district, or banking square, and many of the city's financial services companies are located here. These companies include the Savannah Bancorp, Savannah Bank, Coastal Bank Headquarters, Bank of America branch, SunTrust branch, TitleMax Corporate Headquarters, and a Regions Bank building. Christ Church Episcopal occupies the southeastern trust lot of the square at 28 Bull Street. Christ Church is "the Mother Church of Georgia", established in 1733. Early clergy of the church include John Wesley and George Whitefield.

The first flag of independence raised in the South was in Johnson Square on November 8, 1860.

The Pulaski House Hotel was in operation in the northwestern corner of the square between 1835 and 1948. It was torn down eight years later. Regions Bank stands in its place, as of 2023.

Screven House Hotel stood at the corner of Bull Street and Congress Street in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was demolished and replaced, in 1913, by the Savannah Hotel, which became the Manger Building.

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. They are listed with construction years where known.

;Northwestern residential/tything block
*10 Whitaker Street (1878)
*18 West Bryan Street (1912)
*John L. Hardee Property, 22–24 West Bryan Street (1878)

;Southwestern trust/civic block
*United Community Bank, 27 Bull Street (1912)

;Northeastern residential/tything block
*Johnson Square Business Center, 2 East Bryan Street (1911)Historic Building Map: Savannah Historic District
– Historic Preservation Department of the Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission (November 17, 2011), p. 9 – former Savannah Bank and Trust Building
* Ann Hamilton House, 24–26 East Bryan Street (1824) – oldest building on the square
*30–32 East Bryan Street (1916)
*9 Drayton Street (1853)''Savannah, Immortal City: Volume One of the Civil War Savannah Series'', Barry Sheehy, Cindy Wallace, Vaughnette Goode-Walker (2011)
*Citizens Bank Building, 15 Drayton Street (1895) – now Propes Hall, part of SCAD

;Northeastern trust/civic block
*Bank of America, 22 Bull Street (1907) – former Citizens and Southern Bank

;Southeastern trust/civic block
* Christ Church, 28 Bull Street (1838/1897)

;Southeastern residential/tything block
*The Manger Building, 7 East Congress Street (1913) – formerly Screven House and the Hotel Savannah

Gallery

File:Downtown Buildings -- Savannah Bank and Trust Co., Savannah Ga.jpg, The former Savannah Bank and Trust Building, at 2 East Bryan Street
File:Ann Hamilton House.jpg, Ann Hamilton House, 24–26 East Bryan Street
File:Downtown Buildings -- The Citizens and Southern Bank, Savannah, Ga.jpg, The Citizens and Southern Bank (now Bank of America), 22 Bull Street
File:Eastside, Savannah, GA 31401, USA - panoramio.jpg, Christ Church Episcopal, 28 Bull Street
File:Savannah, ca. 1875. Screven House, a hotel.jpg, The former Screven House Hotel, which stood at the corner of Bull and Congress Streets
File:Hotel Savannah exterior.png, Screven House Hotel was replaced by the Hotel Savannah, then the Manger Building, at 7 East Congress Street
File:DSC0091wc.jpg, SCAD's Propes Hall, at 15 Drayton Street in the northeastern tything block
File:9 Drayton Street.jpg, 9 Drayton Street
File:John L. Hardee Property.jpg, John L. Hardee Property, 22–24 East Bryan Street

References

{{Squares of Savannah, Georgia

Johnson Square (Savannah, Georgia)
1733 establishments in the Thirteen Colonies