Elbert Square

About This Square

Elbert Square was created in 1801 and named after Samuel Elbert, a soldier in the Revolutionary War who rose all the way to the level of Brigadier General and went on to be the sheriff of Chatham County and eventually the Governor of Georgia.

If there was anything of note in this square in terms of historical markers or monuments, the information seems to be lost to time as was the square itself.

In 1935, the Atlantic Coastal Highway expansion targeted Montgomery Street, which ran around Elbert, Liberty, and Franklin Squares, as new path into Downtown.  All three squares were destroyed as the street was straightened into a thoroughfare.

In the 1970s, the Savannah Civic Center with an arena and theater was built along Montgomery where Elbert Square was located.

Franklin Square was restored in 1983 but Elbert and Liberty are, for now, the “lost squares” of Savannah.  Today, all that exists of the original Elbert Square is a small strip of grass on the west side of Montgomery.

But Elbert Square may make a comeback.  A new arena on the west side of Savannah opened in 2022 and the current plans are to tear down the Civic Center and put the square back where it was.  Whether or not this actually happens is yet to be seen.