Enclosed by East Broad Street, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Gwinnett Street, this National Historic Landmark preserves the antebellum era of Georgia's oldest city, offering a series of wonderful insights into the history of this iconic town. The district's borders are marked according to the specifications laid down by James Oglethorpe before the Civil War, thus covering 1,300 acres (526 hectares). The district contains several heritage structures that range from religious sites, administrative headquarters, museums and public venues. The site's most notable attractions include Juliette Gordon Low's birthplace, the First African Baptist Church, the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Central of Georgia Railway roundhouse complex and the jet-black Old Harbor Light.
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Central of Georgia Depot and Trainshed is one of the oldest buildings in the vicinity. Constructed in 1860, it was a passenger depot and a trainshed, and by 1976 it was declared as a National Historic Landmark. The site complex houses Savannah History Museum in the passenger depot, while you will also find a visitor center, a trainshed, a cotton yard, a blacksmith shop and a brick viaduct. The museum has artifacts relating to the history of the complex since its inception. The museum was opened up to the public in 1989.
Built for a wealthy cotton tycoon and now used as a church rectory, this glamorous Gothic-style home on Madison Square served as the lodging of choice for General William Tecumseh Sherman during his stay in Savannah. From a desk in an upstairs bedroom, Sherman dictated a telegram to Abraham Lincoln, offering the city as an extravagant 1864 Christmas present. It was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1976.
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Completed in 1840 on Madison Square by Francis Sorrel, it was the first home in Georgia to be designated an historic landmark. Located near the fabled Colonial Park Cemetery, the 16,000 square-foot mansion is believed to be haunted and is one of the most interesting ghost tours offered in Savannah. Whether visitors take a guided day tour or the evening candlelight tour, the one and a half hours spent wandering through the legendary house, carriage house, and gardens will leave a lasting impression of it's the turbulent past and lives of former occupants. Opens daily at 9am.
