Travelin' Shutterbug: GEORGIASAVANNAHFORSYTH PARK

One of the things I set out to do on my first visit to Savannah, Ga., in March 2017 was to reach all 20+ squares in the historic section of the city.

The premier square is Forsyth, which today is referred to more often as a park than a square because of its immense size, relative to the squares elsewhere in the historic downtown. Forsyth has the gorgeous fountain shown in the lead-off photo.

What brought me the most joy on that first visit, however, is the photo immediately below.

This image found so much favor with me because of its spontaneity, and because of the wonderfully charming, albeit brief, exchange Lee Ann and I had with these gentlemen, who were seated on a bench in southern half of Forsyth Park.

We came upon them just as you see them in the photo. Most of the neighborhood squares are really square-shaped; Forsyth, at the southern tip of the series of squares, is decidedly rectangular and extends six blocks long (north and south) and two blocks wide (east and west). And it encompasses 30 acres. But I digress.

I thought “portrait” the moment I laid eyes on these nattily dressed gentlemen. Lee Ann spotted them at the same time I did, and without us even conferring, Lee Ann hustled ahead of me, smiled at the two men, and politely asked if she could take their picture.

In response, one of the men (I forget now which) smiled, pointed at me and made a joke about how I might not appreciate her doing that. I quickly told them that I would not mind at all, and that taking their portrait had also occurred to me ... but I was much slower to process how I would approach them to do it.

The two men kindly consented, and before I had time to size up a composition, Lee Ann had her iPhone in place and took several photographs with it. When it came to my turn, one of the men noticed I had a Canon DSLR (a 6D) and a strap attached to it labeled with the Canon logo and said something in joking fashion (I forgot exactly what) indicating how my gear was much more serious.

I used the trunk and arching lower branch of a large oak tree behind the bench where they were sitting to sort of “frame” the subjects (right). But weeks later, when I was back home and had the images up on my computer screen during post-processing, it occurred to me to apply a crop and see how that looked. I don’t mind the original composition at right, but I much prefer the cropped version because you get to see the gentlemen better, which is why I picked it to present it in a large fashion above.

After I finished my shots (which I took in short order), I showed the men the pictures on the display screen on the back of the camera and then the four of us introduced ourselves. I’m embarrassed to say that I forgot the last name of the man on the right, even though I asked him to repeat his first name because I thought he said it was Jay. He corrected me and said it was James. I just didn’t remember the last name back then. The man on the left’s full name is John Harrington.

I wish I would have asked them if they would have liked to receive copies of the photos, but ... I didn’t. So if John and James ever see these photos again, it’ll be because someone they know will have stumbled upon this post.

There’s a wonderful, delayed conclusion to the story. Six years later, during our last visit in 2023, we returned to Savannah and Forsyth Park, and I encountered a few women minding a kiosk along the main sidewalk (see photo above), just south of the iconic fountain. I started a chat with them by asking them if they knew the men in the picture (which I showed them on my iPhone). They said yes. They said the men still come to the park regularly. They told me the surname of the man whose last name I had forgotten. They said it was Washington. James Washington. I gave them a copy of the photo so they could show John and James that I had returned.

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According to information about Forsyth Park that I found on the Internet, the park got its initial land in the 1840s via a donation of 10 acres from William Brown Hodgson, a prominent Savannah citizen, American diplomat and scholar of the Middle East. Hodgson was a member of the Georgia Historical Society, and one of its curators for 25 years.

A building at 501 Whitaker St., at the northwestern corner of Forsyth Park, stands today with the name Hodgson Hall and the phrase “Georgia Historical Society” displayed on the front facade (see photo below). It was built in 1876 and a gift of Hodgson’s widow, Margaret Telfair Hodgson and her sister, Mary Telfair, as a memorial to William, who died in 1871. And indeed, today Hodgson Hall houses the Georgia Historical Society.

Savannah officially designated the 10 acres Hodgson donated as a public park in 1851 and named it after John Forsyth, the 33rd governor of Georgia. The grand, cast-iron fountain, modeled after designs from Paris, was installed in 1858, becoming an instant central city landmark.

In 1867, 20 more acres previously used as a military parade ground were added to extend the park southward, finalizing the park's current 30-acre footprint bounded by Gaston, Drayton, Park and Whitaker streets.

The Confederate War Monument therein, the tall obelisk you see in the pictures in this post, was erected in 1874.

Today, Forsyth Park contains walking paths, a children’s play area, a fragrant garden for the blind, the large fountain, tennis and basketball courts, areas for soccer and Frisbee, and a home playing field for the Savannah Shamrocks Rugby Club. From time to time, there are public concerts held there.

The remainder of this post is devoted to the rest of my images of Forsyth Park, where you’ll find the city’s marquee fountain as well as several monuments, an amphitheater, scores of elegant oak trees (and Spanish moss dangling from them), floral arrangements and open space where people lounge and take in the sun.

As always, click on any picture to pull up a larger, sharper version. To view a full gallery of my shots in Savannah (including photos that will be appearing in subsequent posts), click on the link in this sentence.

Approaching the fountain in Forsyth Park (above) from the south end, and the elegant parade of oak branches and Spanish moss (below) lining the sidewalk along the park’s east side.

Above: A different section of the walk along the eastside of the square looking from the opposite direction.

Above and next two below: Wide views and a detail shot of the fountain.

Above: The amphitheater.

The Hiker (above), a Spanish-American War monument at the south end of the park. Below, the Confederate Monument (background), the largest and oldest monument in the park. It is flanked by two busts of Confederate officers, Brig. Gen. Francis Stebbins Bartow and Maj. Gen. Lafayette McLaws. The bust of Bartow, who was born in Savannah and practiced law there and was killed in the second Civil War battle of Manassas, appears in the first photo below; the bust of McLaws appears in the second photo below. McLaws was born in Augusta, Ga., but after the war he settled in Savannah and worked as a postmaster and insurance agent. He died in Savannah in 1897 and is buried in Laurel Grove Cemetery. The original site of the busts was Chippewa Square. They were moved to Forsyth in 1910 to make way for the Gen. James Edward Oglethorpe statue in Chippewa Square.

Examples of floral displays (above and below) and the open meadow (second below), where people felt comfortable lounging on a warm day. An ideal time to visit the city is in March. When we there the first week of March 2017, the azalea blooms were out and beautified landscapes throughout the city, neighborhood squares and in Bonaventure Cemetery (a separate post on the cemetery will be part of this series). If you visit in spring, make sure you’re aware that the city is known for a heavily attended St. Patrick’s Day celebration each year, a celebration that includes a parade considered to be one of the biggest in the country. So if you disdain crowds but want to see the azaleas, go there in early or very late March.