Savannah's Reynolds Square

Mapped out in 1734 as Lower New Square, Reynolds Square was home to the Filature, where cocoons were brought and silk woven. Hopes for a flourishing silk industry were dashed when fire destroyed the Filature in 1758. The square was renamed for John Reynolds, first Royal Governor of Georgia.

Reynolds was in fact an unpopular governor and it is said that the celebration held upon his arrival in the colony was rivaled only by that held upon his departure.

The square contains a bronze statue by Marshall Daugherty honoring John Wesley, founder of Methodism. Wesley spent most of his life in England but undertook a mission to Savannah (1735-1738), during which time he founded the first Sunday school in America. The statue was installed in 1969 on the spot where Wesley's home is believed to have stood. The statue is intended to show Wesley preaching out-of-doors as he did when leading services for Native Americans, a practice which angered church elders who believed that the Gospel should only be preached inside the church building. Reverend Wesley wears clerical vestments of the Church of England.

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

Notable Buildings on Reynolds Square:

Lucas Theater -- (1921), corner of Abercorn and Congress Streets. A 1920s movie palace that has been restored by Savannah Ciollege of Art and Design.

Christ Church Parish House -- 18 Abercorn Street. Fourteen arched windows on a former cigar factory at the corner of Abercorn and Bryan Streets.

The Pink House -- (c.1789) 23 Abercorn Street. One of the few buildings to survive the inferno of 1796 when over 200 houses were destroyed.

Oliver Sturges House -- (c.1818) 27 Abercorn Street. Masterful masonry with earthquake rods, dolphin downspouts.

Location:

Reynolds Square is located on Abercorn, between Bryan and Congress 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.