Savannah's truly a quirky place. Savannah College of Art and Design firmly entrenched in the historic district keeps it going and an open container law and a strong tourist trade adds to the mix. It's one of those places people come for a brief visit and stay (I did).
It pretty much started from the beginning. Savannah and Charleston have always had a sister rivalry which still exists. When General Oglethorpe landed in 1733 to colonize Georgia, South Carolina was already a prosperous colony. A servant girl was accused of making "improper" advances towards several other servant girls. They were going to drag her up and down Bull St behind a wagon to teach her proper behavior but at the last minute the general himself interceded and they decided to send her to Charleston instead.
There was a huge plantation outside of town that went from the Savannah River almost to Florida. The story goes that at a lavish dinner party one night a butler slave leaned over his masters shoulder and calmly informed him the roof had caught fire and they couldn't put it out. The plantation owner asked his guests to pick up their plates and ordered the slaves to move the dining room furniture out to the lawn where they finished dinner as they watched the house burn to the ground. It gets better.
The last heir standing sold the plantation except for 80 acres which enclosed the family cemetery to a cemetery company thinking they would take care of it, they did. He put in the contract a clause, why is a mystery but it became a deed restriction still honored by the city today who now owns it. Anyone who dies on that 80 acre parcel was to be buried in the cemetery for free. To date there have been 43 suicides, 40 were buried for free and 3 families decided to bury them elsewhere.
Savannah International Airport was sold to the city by the US Army after WWII. It had originally been a plantation and when the family sold it to the Army they put in the contract (making it a deed restriction) they could not bother the family cemetery. Not a problem until the city came along and needed a portion of that cemetery as a runway. They ran this solution by the family, the Army and FAA and were given the green light. If you're flying out of the airport on the correct side of the plane and taxiing down the runway you'll see half of the cemetery, stones lying down flat, surrounded by cement and very readable.
In 2003 Savannah chose a beauty queen. She believed her boyfriend was cheating on her and shot him dead. This is not the quirky part. I'm not sure what the problem was but every time they needed her for a pageant or a parade they would pull her out of jail, put on her makeup and let her fulfill her reign. Welcome to Savannah!
It pretty much started from the beginning. Savannah and Charleston have always had a sister rivalry which still exists. When General Oglethorpe landed in 1733 to colonize Georgia, South Carolina was already a prosperous colony. A servant girl was accused of making "improper" advances towards several other servant girls. They were going to drag her up and down Bull St behind a wagon to teach her proper behavior but at the last minute the general himself interceded and they decided to send her to Charleston instead.
There was a huge plantation outside of town that went from the Savannah River almost to Florida. The story goes that at a lavish dinner party one night a butler slave leaned over his masters shoulder and calmly informed him the roof had caught fire and they couldn't put it out. The plantation owner asked his guests to pick up their plates and ordered the slaves to move the dining room furniture out to the lawn where they finished dinner as they watched the house burn to the ground. It gets better.
The last heir standing sold the plantation except for 80 acres which enclosed the family cemetery to a cemetery company thinking they would take care of it, they did. He put in the contract a clause, why is a mystery but it became a deed restriction still honored by the city today who now owns it. Anyone who dies on that 80 acre parcel was to be buried in the cemetery for free. To date there have been 43 suicides, 40 were buried for free and 3 families decided to bury them elsewhere.
Savannah International Airport was sold to the city by the US Army after WWII. It had originally been a plantation and when the family sold it to the Army they put in the contract (making it a deed restriction) they could not bother the family cemetery. Not a problem until the city came along and needed a portion of that cemetery as a runway. They ran this solution by the family, the Army and FAA and were given the green light. If you're flying out of the airport on the correct side of the plane and taxiing down the runway you'll see half of the cemetery, stones lying down flat, surrounded by cement and very readable.
In 2003 Savannah chose a beauty queen. She believed her boyfriend was cheating on her and shot him dead. This is not the quirky part. I'm not sure what the problem was but every time they needed her for a pageant or a parade they would pull her out of jail, put on her makeup and let her fulfill her reign. Welcome to Savannah!
