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Chippewa Square: Savannah Theater

First on this site was the 1000-seat theater designed in 1818 by the English architect William Jay, and built by Amos Scudder of New Jersey. It took Mr. Scudder three months to transport his carpentry tools to Savannah by oxcart. It's said that patrons of the first production, The Soldier's Daughter, paid $1.00 for a box seat and 50 cents for a perch in the gallery. Used both for opera and drama, the stage of this theater hosted such stars as Edwin Booth, Sarah Bernhardt, Lillian Russell and Savannah's own Charles Coburn. Conversion for films and a succession of fires consumed most of the original building, even its collection of programs and memorabilia. Today's visitor sees 1950s architecture, now home to the Savannah Theater Company, a community enterprise offering a season of live drama, plus a summer musical. 222 Bull Street.

--Visitor's Guide to Savannah

Chippewa Square
1. Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools Administrative Offices
208 Bull Street (Formerly Chatham Academy and Savannah High School.)
2. Independent Presbyterian Church
Corner of Bull and oglethorpe. A soaring steeple with clocks on all four sides, topped by a gleaming brass weathervane.
3. First Baptist Church
Bull Street on Chippewa Square, (1833). Church in Greek temple design with six massive columns.
4. Savannah Theater
222 Bull Street. Live theater in an art deco building on the country's oldest theater site in continuous operation; a Greek Revival building by William Jay once stood here.

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