Life and Island Times April 23 2016 – Savannah Stories Part IV
Squares
Savannah was laid out in 1733 around four open squares, each surrounded by four residential (“tything”) blocks and four civic (“trust”) blocks. The layout of a square and eight surrounding blocks was known as a “ward.”
The original plan (now known as the Oglethorpe Plan) allowed for growth of the city by the addition of squares. By 1851 there were 24 squares in the city
1770 plan of Savannah showing the first six squares. The Savannah River and “north” are to the bottom of the image.
In the 20th century, three of the squares were demolished or altered beyond recognition, leaving 21. In 2010, one of the three “lost” squares, Ellis, was reclaimed. Most of Savannah’s squares are named in honor or in memory of a person, persons or historical event, and many contain monuments, markers, memorials, statues, plaques, and other tributes.
Although many moderns cherish the squares’ aesthetic beauty, the first squares were intended to provide colonists space for military exercises. To those with military service backgrounds, the plan resembles the layout of contemporary 18th century military camps. Oglethorpe’s layout also appears to have a public safety purpose in limiting the spread of fires that could have razed the city.
Time has bejeweled these landscapes. Architect John Massengale has called Savannah’s city plan “the most intelligent grid in America, perhaps the world.” Edmund Bacon wrote that “it remains as one of the finest diagrams for city organization and growth in existence.”
Locals and tourists have added vibrancy to these places by using them for public and semi-public celebrations each and every day and night. Savannah, Key West and New Orleans are the only three US cities that permit the open public consumption of adult beverages.
God Bless America.
Rat Show
Clary’s has been s Savanah landmark diner for 113 years. It grew in popularity mostly among tourists in 1994, with the publication of John Berendt’s book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, in which the restaurant was prominently featured.
Twice in the past fourteen years, it has been spotlighted in local and regional media reports — some out of jealousy and some in outright spite of its enduring popularity. The last spate of reports in 2012 for some odd reason attracted locals back in droves to the place despite the crushing numbers of tourists who infest the place.
Most locals heard about the rat show from friends, who lived nearby. At irregular intervals the show would begin with a variety of performers scampering over the floor and tables. The favorite seats for locals to observe the show were the stools at the bar given their wide vista of tables packed with tourists.
“If we closed every restaurant in town that had a rat or mice problem, then there’d be a lot closed,” said an inspector for the county environmental health division.
This is not the stuff of urban legend. Hospitality is an art form in Savannah. It has been dubbed the Hostess City of the South. This deliberate attention to and pride in the way the city presents herself goes back to its founding. Constantly being on stage. so to speak, would take its toll on the inhabitants/performers. Perhaps the Rat Show is a Savannahian dark side reaction of its Disney-esque performers?
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