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Johnson Square

As the first of the jewels of Savannah - the five picturesque green parks that adorn Bull Street - Johnson Square was the earliest of the twenty-four original squares. Laid out in 1733, it honors Oglethorpe's friend and helper, Governor Robert Johnson of South Carolina, and remains as a crossroad in history: here the colonists came to find out the time of day from the sundial (replaced in 1933 by the Society of Colonial Wars in Georgia); here they gathered to receive President Monroe in 1819 and again in 1825 to laud French General Marquis de Lafayette, who laid the corner-stone for the imposing monument which marks the last resting place of General Nathanael Greene, Revolutionary war hero; here a public reception was held for Daniel Webster and his wife in 1848, and in 1860, upon the announcement of South Carolina's secession from the Union, a large meeting was held in the square where the Secession Flag was unfurled from the Greene monument. To this day, the square is used for political rallies and other public events.

--Sojourn in Savannah

Johnson Square
1. Christ Church, Episcopal
(1842), Bull Street on Johnson Square. Third building on church site selected by Oglethorpe; "Mother Church of Georgia."

Map | Next Stop: Wright Square

Johnson Square
Wright Square
Chippewa Square
Madison Square
Monterey Square
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