 A 1900 view from between Bull Street and Drayton Street, looking west toward the Independent Presbyterian Church | |
| Former name(s) | South Broad Street (construction date to 1820) Market Street (from 1820) South Broad Street Oglethorpe Avenue (1897 to present) |
|---|---|
| Namesake | James Edward Oglethorpe |
| Length | 1.26 mi (2.03 km) |
| Location | Savannah, Georgia, U.S. |
| West end | Atlantic Coastal Highway (U.S. Route 17) |
| East end | Randolph Street |
Oglethorpe Avenue is a prominent street in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Located, in its downtown section, between York Street to the north and Hull Street to the south, it runs for about 1.26 miles (2.03 km) from the Atlantic Coastal Highway (U.S. Route 17) in the west to Randolph Street in the east. It was originally known as South Broad Street, then Market Street. After being named South Broad Street again for a period, it became known as Oglethorpe Avenue in 1897. It was formerly Oglethorpe Avenue singular, but its addresses are now split between "West Oglethorpe Avenue" and "East Oglethorpe Avenue", the transition occurring at Bull Street in the center of the downtown area. The street is named for the founder of the Savannah colony, James Edward Oglethorpe.[1]
The street is entirely within Savannah Historic District, a National Historic Landmark District.[2] It contains what is believed to be the two oldest extant buildings in the city: Eppinger House and the Christian Camphor Cottage.
Oglethorpe Avenue runs between eight squares. From west to east:
- To the south of
- To the north of
The street also forms the northern boundary of Colonial Park Cemetery from Abercorn Street to Habersham Street.
A memorial in the median of Oglethorpe Avenue at Bull Street lists the twenty people known to be interred in a Jewish cemetery, today known as Bull Street Cemetery, which formerly stood there. It includes Abraham Minis, one of Savannah's early immigrants from Europe.[3]
The street was once nicknamed "Under the Trees" due to its avenue of Pride of India trees.[4]
- ^ Cope, Tony (2016). It's Not That Lincoln. The Abercorn Press.
- ^ James Dillon (1977) National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: The Savannah Georgia NHL Historic District, National Park Service and Accompanying 25 photos, from 1964, 1973
- ^ Savannah's Old Jewish Burial Ground, The Georgia Historical Quarterly, volume 34, no. 4 (December 1950, p. 267
- ^ Charles Seton Henry Hardee's Recollections of Old Savannah, p. 362