Thursday, March 20, 2008

Beautiful Reynolds Park - Savannah postcard


The back of this card says the same as the front: Beautiful Reynolds Park - Savannah.

Is Beautiful part of the name? I mean, if I was looking for Reynolds Park on the map, in the index would look under the Bs?

And another thing - this square is suppose to be haunted which they say causes photographs to be blurry. Then, how come this postcard is so clear?

One of Savannah, Georgia's 24 beautiful squares, Reynolds Square is located on Abercorn Street, between Bryan and Congress. It was named for a Georgia Royal Governor, James Reynolds.

I did a little Google surfing and found this from website Reynolds Square, Savannah,Ga:


As a local legend goes, one of the buildings just off the property was used as a hospital for malaria patients, and a there was a makeshift crematorium in the center of what is now Reynolds square. Bodies were gathered not only from the hospital, but from local homes as well. Victims of the disease were wrapped in a bedsheet and their bodies were burned to prevent the spread of the terrible disease. There is some question, however, as to the thoroughness of the attendants; most of the bodies were certainly dead, but a few had probably only lapsed into a coma-like state from the disease. These people were literally burned alive in the center of the square.
That was long ago, however, and in 1969 the Methodists of Georgia erected a statue of Reverend John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist denomination. He is said to have lived nearby, and the statue shows him in a preaching pose. It is a well-photographed attraction in Savannah, but often the photographs show strange colors or hazy patterns, if the photos turn out at all. Many people blame the photographic anomalies on the spirits of those poor souls who were burned alive in Reynolds Square.

2 comments:

Deborah Wilson said...

Eddie,

I'm glad that you made a post about Savannah - Mom and I are planning a trip there in June. I haven't been there in a long time.

This is one square that I will have to check out - morbid - but interesting history.

This kind of thing happened all over the world though. Back in the old days, many people were buried alive; they were not dead, but only in a coma. God.

Eddie said...

Deborah,
I bet you and your mother will enjoy yourselves.... there is so much to see.

I noticed on the postcard a pink building in the background. I am not sure, but I think it what is know as "The Pink House" which is now a restaurant, but long long time ago, it was the home of James Habersham, one of the Georgia signers of the Declaration of Independence.
We had dinner there when we were there, and his James' portrait was on the wall, high enough that it appeared he was looking down on us - I mean, really "looking down" like he disapproved of us strangers dining in his home. I don't suppose it helped that one of us slammed an artificial hand on a plate (long story - it is on the blog somewhere).