Crawford Square

About This Square

Crawford Square was created in 1841 and named for William Harris Crawford, a former governor of Georgia, who ran for president in 1824 but lost to John Quincy Adams.

In terms of acreage, it is the smallest of all of the squares, but it packs in more features than many of the others in the Historic District.

Start with the fence.  Every square had one at one point, but were lost to time.  Crawford is the only one with portions of its original fence still in place.

It also has its original cistern, part of which is visible on the south side of the square.  Every square had one as part of firefighting efforts and the city’s fire department maintained duty stations in each of them.  That didn’t stop a bunch of major fires from destroying parts of Downtown Savannah, but they may have played a part in rescuing at parts of it.

Crawford is also one of only two squares that have a gazebo and the only one that has a basketball court.  

In 1946, the Crawford Square basketball team won a local tournament and the prize was a paved basketball court, which was installed the following year.  This was a big deal since the team, and the neighborhood surrounding this square, was predominately Black.  

In fact, from its inception until the end of mandated segregation laws, this was the only square in Savannah that Black people were allowed to enter.