Monterey Square
Photo: JeffersonLH · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
Monterey Square
The square fronting the Mercer-Williams House and the Pulaski monument, a standard stop on tours telling the Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil story.
- Address
- Bull St between W Wayne St & W Taylor St, Savannah, GA 31401
- Hours
- Check the official website or call ahead for current hours.
- Admission
- Free (public space).
- Access
- open to public (city square)
About
Monterey Square is one of the 22 squares of Savannah, Georgia, United States. It is located in the southernmost row of the city's five rows of squares, on Bull Street and Wayne Street, and was laid out in 1847. It is south of Madison Square, west of Taylor Square, north of Forsyth Park and east of Chatham Square. The oldest building on the square is the Herman Kuhlman Duplex, at 22–24 West Taylor Street, which dates to 1851.
Monterey Square commemorates the Battle of Monterrey (1846), in which American forces, under General Zachary Taylor, captured the city of Monterrey during the Mexican–American War. (The correct spelling in reference to the square is "Monterey".)
In the center of the square is a monument honoring General Casimir Pulaski, erected in 1853. The body of an unknown Revolutionary soldier, speculated by some to be Pulaski himself, is said to be buried beneath the monument.
Monterey Square is the site of Mercer House, built by Hugh Mercer and later the home of antiques dealer and conservator Jim Williams. The house (which fills an entire block) and the square itself, were featured prominently in John Berendt's 1994 true crime novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. The square has been used as a setting for several motion pictures, including the 1997 film version of Berendt's novel and The Ordeal of Dr. Mudd, starring Dennis Weaver, in 1979. The Comer House, in the northeastern residential/tything block, is also featured in the movie.
Text from Wikipedia, Monterey Square (Savannah, Georgia), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
What to see
- Scudder's Row
- Herman Kuhlman Duplex
- George Gray House
- Andrew Farie House
- Nicholas Cruger House
- Revd. Charles W. Rogers House
- John Lynch Building
- Mercer House
Named in the Wikipedia article cited below.
Tips
- Savannah's squares are public spaces you can walk through at any time.
- Featured on 2 ghost tours; see the links below.
