Haunted Sites
Summoning the spirits…
Photo: Smallbones · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons
Johnson Square
Savannah's first square, where Revolutionary War general Nathanael Greene is buried beneath the monument. A stop on self-guided haunted walks, which tell of Greene and his sons' ghosts.
- Address
- Bull St between E/W Bryan St & E/W Congress St, Savannah, GA 31401
- Hours
- Check the official website or call ahead for current hours.
- Admission
- Free (public square).
- Access
- open to public (city square)
The real history
About the place
Johnson Square was the first square in James Oglethorpe's 1733 plan and is still the largest of the 22. It is named for Robert Johnson, the colonial governor of South Carolina and a friend of Oglethorpe. It was the heart of the young colony. Merchants traded here, and in 1776 a copy of the Declaration of Independence was read aloud in the square. City Hall and the banks of Bay and Bull Streets surround it today. The oldest building on the square is the Ann Hamilton House (1824).
The obelisk at the center is the tomb of General Nathanael Greene, the Revolutionary War commander of the Southern army. He died at Mulberry Grove, above Savannah, in 1786 and was placed in a family vault in what is now Colonial Park Cemetery, and his son was later buried beside him. The location was eventually lost. Wikipedia says this followed Union vandalism of the cemetery. In 1901 searchers found what were believed to be their remains in the Graham vault and reburied them beneath the monument. Lafayette laid the obelisk's cornerstone in 1825. It went unmarked for years, served as a shared memorial to Greene and Pulaski, and received its Greene inscriptions in 1886.
It is a public square, open at all hours.
Local legend
The Ghost Story
Told here as local lore, the way guides, books and visitors tell it. These are legends, not established fact.
Johnson Square's ghost lore begins with a mystery overhead. In a city where Spanish moss hangs from nearly every oak, the trees here are mostly bare, and locals have noticed it for generations. Historian and author Ryan Dunn told WJCL the favorite explanation: General Greene supposedly hated Spanish moss, and so it won't grow over his grave. Self-guided haunted walks also tell of Greene, and of his son, appearing in the square.
Others link the square's mood to darker history. Patrick Welsh of the Paranormal Society of Savannah told WJCL that Johnson Square is 'one of the most haunted' because of the hangings once carried out in early Savannah, and that 'a lot of the spirits are still there.' Even the general's bones carry a hint of doubt. They spent more than a century lost in a borrowed vault, and Dunn admits no one can be completely certain they are his.
What to see
- John L. Hardee Property
- United Community Bank
- Johnson Square Business Center
- Ann Hamilton House
- Citizens Bank Building
- Bank of America
- Christ Church
- The Manger Building
Named in the Wikipedia article cited below.
Tips
- Savannah's squares are public spaces you can walk through at any time.
- Featured on 2 ghost tours; see the links below.
