Savannah’s historic squares are often introduced as a number: 22 surviving squares from a city plan that eventually grew to 24. That fact matters, but it does not quite explain why the squares make Savannah feel different block to block. They are not a single park system arranged for sightseeing. They are the green rooms of distinct wards, each with its own mix of traffic, homes, churches, museums, hotels, schools, monuments and daily foot traffic.
For residents, the squares can be part of a regular route to coffee, work, school or dinner. For visitors, they offer a better way to understand the Historic District than marching from one landmark to another. Slow down, choose a section of town and let the character of the surrounding streets set the pace.
Savannah’s ward plan placed a public square at the center of each neighborhood, with residential lots and larger civic-oriented lots around it. The design began in 1733 and continued for more than a century; 22 of the city’s original 24 squares remain today. ([georgiahistory.com](https://www.georgiahistory.com/resource/james-edward-oglethorpe/oglethorpe-and-savannahs-city-plan/?utm_source=openai))
Start with the idea of a ward, not a monument
The most useful mental map is a simple one: each square belongs to a ward. The square is the pause in the street grid, not an isolated attraction. Look beyond its paths and canopy to the buildings at the corners, the lanes behind them and the streets continuing toward the next square.
That is why two squares only a few blocks apart can feel so unlike each other. One may be a meeting point in the commercial core, another a calm residential pocket where the loudest sound is a passing car on wet pavement. Both are Savannah, and the contrast is part of the experience.
It also helps explain the city’s rhythm. Rather than one enormous central park, the Historic District offers a sequence of smaller shared spaces. You can cross downtown in manageable chapters, resting under trees and resetting your bearings as you go.
The northwestern squares: the city’s busy front room
Near the riverfront and City Market area, the squares are woven into Savannah’s most active visitor corridors. This is the right zone for a first walk if you want to understand how the original plan accommodates both commerce and public life.
Johnson Square, Savannah’s first square, is the most natural place to begin. It has the feeling of a civic center rather than a secret garden: streets converge, offices and historic institutions surround it, and the Nathanael Greene monument gives the space a formal focal point. It was laid out in 1733 and remains a useful anchor for orienting yourself downtown. ([georgiahistory.com](https://www.georgiahistory.com/ghmi_marker_updated/johnson-square/?utm_source=openai))
From there, Ellis Square and Franklin Square show a more contemporary, west-side tempo. Ellis is especially useful when a group needs room to regroup between the riverfront, Broughton Street and City Market. Franklin feels slightly more removed from that bustle, though it still sits within easy walking distance of restaurants, lodging and museum stops.
Telfair Square, a short walk east of Ellis, offers a more museum-oriented setting. The point is not to rush through these spaces hunting for the prettiest view. Notice how each square changes according to what is built around it: civic scale at Johnson, commercial energy at Ellis and a quieter cultural edge around Telfair.
Bull Street: the classic Savannah sequence
If someone says they want “the Savannah squares,” they often mean the run along Bull Street. This is the city’s most recognizable north-south promenade, and it is where the plan feels especially cinematic. Still, the best way to walk it is to look past the movie associations and treat each stop as a different neighborhood room.
Wright Square is a crossroads of layered history. It began as Percival Square, was later renamed for colonial governor James Wright, and is associated with Tomochichi’s 1739 burial. The courthouse presence gives it a more public, urban feel than many surrounding squares. ([savannahga.gov](https://savannahga.gov/facilities/facility/details/Wright-Square-191?utm_source=openai))
South of Wright, Chippewa Square is one of the district’s busiest visual landmarks. Its Oglethorpe statue, framed by Bull Street and prominent historic buildings, makes it an easy stop for first-time visitors. The bench scenes associated with Forrest Gump were filmed here, although the movie bench itself is not in the square. Chippewa was laid out in 1815 and commemorates the Battle of Chippewa. ([visitsavannah.com](https://visitsavannah.com/article/savannahs-historic-squares-and-parks?utm_source=openai))
Madison Square offers a graceful transition toward the southern Historic District. It is a good place to step away from Bull Street’s steady flow and study the streetscape at a slower pace. Continue another block pattern south and the city begins to feel more residential, more architectural and less like a conventional downtown.
The east side: intimate squares and a deeper residential feel
East of Bull Street, the squares often reward wandering. The streets are still central and walkable, but the mood can be noticeably quieter. This is where Savannah’s urban plan feels less like a tour route and more like a lived-in neighborhood framework.
Reynolds Square sits near the northern edge of this area, while Oglethorpe Square, Columbia Square, Greene Square, Warren Square and Washington Square create a connected set of east-side pauses. Do not expect them to be identical. Some feel tightly enclosed by architecture; others open toward broader views or carry a more residential quiet.
Columbia Square is a particularly memorable stop for its fountain and compact scale. Washington and Warren Squares are good choices when you want to get away from Bull Street without leaving the historic core. Greene Square is also worth including on an east-side route, especially when the goal is to see how Savannah’s historic landscape is tied to stories beyond the city’s most familiar monuments.
These squares are ideal for an unhurried walk toward the river or back toward the center of town. Keep your route flexible. In Savannah, the shaded block you did not plan to take is often the one you remember.
Crawford Square: a different kind of public space
Crawford Square deserves its own stop because it feels different from the more formal, monument-centered squares. Located near Colonial Park Cemetery, it is associated with Savannah’s Black residents and has been identified by the National Park Service as the city’s only racially accessible square during segregation. Its basketball court, gazebo, fencing and cisterns also distinguish it from the more landscaped square model elsewhere downtown. ([parkplanning.nps.gov](https://parkplanning.nps.gov/showFile.cfm?projectID=79971&sfid=320941&utm_source=openai))
That difference is important. Savannah’s squares are not frozen scenes from a single era. Crawford Square makes the case clearly: public space has been shaped by who was welcomed, who was excluded and how residents continued to use it anyway.
The southern squares: linger longer
South of the busiest central blocks, the squares become an especially pleasant framework for a neighborhood walk. Orleans Square and Pulaski Square are useful west-side stops, while Lafayette Square, Monterey Square, Chatham Square, Troup Square, Whitefield Square and Taylor Square make up a rich southern circuit.
Monterey and Lafayette are often included on architecture-focused walks, but they should not be treated as merely backdrops. Take time to look at the porches, fences, brick sidewalks and tree cover that give the surrounding blocks their residential character. Troup and Whitefield are quieter choices for travelers who want a break from the crowd without leaving the district.
Taylor Square is also a reminder that Savannah’s landscape continues to evolve. The City removed John C. Calhoun’s name in 2022 and named the square for Susie King Taylor in 2023; it was dedicated as Taylor Square in February 2024. Taylor was a formerly enslaved educator and nurse, and the naming added Savannah’s first square honoring a woman, a person of color and a formerly enslaved person. ([savannahga.gov](https://www.savannahga.gov/m/newsflash/Archive/Item/2879?arcId=3817&utm_source=openai))
How to walk the squares respectfully
The squares are public places, but they are also the front yards of dense residential blocks and the setting for active institutions. Keep paths clear, lower the volume when you settle on a bench and remember that many of the striking buildings around you are private homes.
- Cross at intersections rather than treating the squares as traffic islands.
- Use benches and lawns lightly, and leave no litter behind.
- Read markers with care, especially where a square holds complicated or contested history.
- Build in time to sit. The squares make more sense when you stop moving.
- Use a current city map if you are planning a longer route; it will help you connect the squares to nearby transit, parking and public facilities. ([savannahga.gov](https://www.savannahga.gov/DocumentCenter/View/4436?utm_source=openai))
The best Savannah square is rarely the one someone tells you to photograph. It may be the lively square that helps you find your way on a first visit, the shaded block you pass every week as a resident or the quiet one that reveals how carefully a city can make room for people. Walk them as neighborhoods, and Savannah’s famous plan becomes less of a historic diagram and more of a living place.
