Savannah's Calhoun Square

Named for one of the south's great statesmen, Calhoun Square was added in 1851. John Caldwell Calhoun served his country in many capacities, including Vice-President, Secretary of State, and Secretary of War under John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson.

Each year, school children from all over the city gather here to "dance the Maypole" in front of the Massie Heritage Center, a tradition that began in the 1850s.

Calhoun Square was one of the last squares created. It is sometimes called Massie Square in reference to a neighborhood school. It is the only square with all of its original buildings intact.

Calhoun Square is one of the 24 squares that was designed and incorporated into the plan for the city of Savannah.

Notable Buildings on Calhoun Square:

Massie Heritage Center -- (c. 1855-56), 201-213 East Gordon Street. Rosy-beige school buildings with connected walkways, named for Peter Massie, Scottish planter who came to Georgia.

202 East Taylor Street -- (Mid-19th century). Side garden with a view through a cast iron gate; flower beds outlined with up-ended ale bottles from the brewery of the first owner, William Rogers.

Wesley Monumental United Methodist Church -- Abercorn Street on Calhoun Square. Soaring spires and Gothic arches on a church named for English clergy brothers John and Charles Wesley, founders of Methodism.

Location:

Calhoun Square is located on Abercorn, between Taylor and Gordon Streets.

The Squares of Savannah Georgia:

Savannah was originally laid out around four open squares. The plan anticipated growth of the city and thus expansion of the grid; additional squares were added during the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries, and by 1851 there were twenty four squares in downtown Savannah. Three of these have been demolished or altered beyond recognition, leaving twenty-one squares at the present. One of those, Ellis Square, is currently being rebuilt. Most squares are named in honor or in memory of a person, persons, or event, and many contain monuments, markers, memorials, statues, plaques, and other tributes. The first squares were originally intended to provide colonists space for military exercises. All of the squares are a part of Savannah's historic district and fall within an area of less than one half square mile. Savannah's city plan was designed by General James Oglethorpe, and his layout has been hailed as the most intelligent grid in America. The American Society of Civil Engineers has honored Oglethorpe's plan for Savannah as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, and in 1994 the plan was nominated for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The squares are a major point of interest for millions of tourists visiting Savannah each year, and they have been credited with stabilizing once-deteriorating neighborhoods and revitalizing Savannah's downtown commercial district.