Reynolds Square

About This Square

Reynolds Square was laid out in 1734 and originally called Lower New Square. It was renamed after John Reynolds, the first royal governor of Georgia, around 1756.

This was where they had the first reading of the Declaration of Independence in Georgia in August of 1776, delivered here on horseback only a few weeks after it had been written and signed.

The square was home to a filature, a structure designed to house silkworms who they hoped would turn Savannah into a silk-producing hub. The heat and humidity killed that dream.

The statue in the center of the square was erected in 1969 in honor of John Wesley, the father of the Methodist Church, who came to Savannah in 1735. He liked to preach outside his home, which was located here on what would become Reynolds Square.

Notable buildings include the Olde Pink House, built in 1771 as the Habersham House.  It’s  one of the oldest buildings in the city, one of few that survived a great fire in 1796 and another in 1820. Over its many years it has been a private home, a bank, and a tea room, and now houses one of the finest restaurants in the city.

Across the street, next to the Planters Inn, is the Oliver Sturges House, built in 1813.  This is where Sturges and others planned the voyage of the SS Savannah, the first steamship to cross the Atlantic in 1819.

There’s also the Lucas Theatre, which was built in 1921 and served as both a vaudeville theater and a movie theater. It closed in 1976 and was going to be torn down but was saved by the Historic Savannah Foundation. It took 24 years for them to put together the financing but they restored the building and it reopened in 2000. It now hosts movie screenings and special events.