Columbia Square (Savannah, Georgia)

Columbia Square
Looking south from inside the square
NamesakeColumbia
Maintained byCity of Savannah
LocationSavannah, Georgia, U.S.
Coordinates32°04′36″N 81°05′17″W / 32.0768°N 81.0880°W / 32.0768; -81.0880
NorthHabersham Street
EastEast President Street
SouthHabersham Street
WestEast President Street
Construction
Completion1799 (225 years ago) (1799)

Columbia Square is one of the 22 squares of Savannah, Georgia, United States. It is located in the second row of the city's five rows of squares, on Habersham Street and East President Street. It is south of Warren Square and between Oglethorpe Square to the west and Greene Square to the east. The oldest building on the square is at 307 East President Street, today's 17 Hundred 90 Inn, which, as its name suggests, dates to the 18th century.[1]

The square was laid out in 1799 and is named for Columbia, the poetic personification of the United States. In the center of the square is a fountain that formerly stood at the Wormsloe estate of Noble Jones, one of Georgia's first settlers. It was moved to Columbia Square in 1970 to honor Augusta and Wymberly DeRenne, descendants of Jones. It is sometimes called the "rustic fountain," as it is decorated with vines, leaves, flowers, and other woodland motifs.[2][3]

Irish immigrant William Kehoe built a house on the eastern side of the square, at 130 Habersham Street, in 1885. After both his business and his family expanded, he built a larger home, completed in 1892, diagonally across the square at 123 Habersham Street.[4]

The Timothy Bonticou Double House, at 418–420 East State Street, was moved one block south from 419–421 East Broughton Lane in 1972.

The office of Historic Savannah Foundation is in the southwest tything of the square, at 321 East York Street.[5]

In 2024, a Columbia Square monument was commissioned to honor the seven women who began the preservation movement in Savannah. They were Katherine Judkins Clark, Elinor Adler Dillard, Anna Colquit Hunter, Lucy Barrow McIntire, Dorothy Ripley Roebling, Nola McEvoy Roos and Jane Adair Wright.[6]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference sav was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Tour Guide Manual for licensed tour guides in the City of Savannah, accessed June 16, 2007.
  3. ^ City of Savannah's monuments page Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine This page links directly to numerous short entries, many accompanied by photographs, discussing a variety of monuments, memorials, etc., in the squares and elsewhere. Accessed June 16, 2007.
  4. ^ History – KehoeHouse.com
  5. ^ Historic Savannah Foundation – Savannah Area Chamber
  6. ^ Lasseter, Evan. "Descendents of Savannah's original seven preservationists pave way for monument in Columbia Square". Savannah Morning News. Retrieved 2024-07-03.