Lafayette Square

Flannery O'Connor's childhood home stands in the southeastern tything lot of the square
Namesake	Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette
Maintained by	City of Savannah
Location	Savannah, Georgia, U.S.
Coordinates	32°04′23″N 81°05′30″W / 32.0730°N 81.0917°W / 32.0730; -81.0917
North	Abercorn Street
East	East Macon Street
South	Abercorn Street
West	East Macon Street
Construction
Completion	1837 (1837)

Lafayette Square is one of the 22 squares of Savannah, Georgia, United States. It is located in the fourth row of the city's five rows of squares, on Abercorn Street and East Macon Street, and was laid out in 1837. It is south of Colonial Park Cemetery, west of Troup Square, north of Calhoun Square and east of Madison Square. The square is named for Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, the French hero of the American Revolution who visited Savannah in 1825. The oldest building on the square is the Andrew Low Carriage House, at 329 Abercorn Street, which dates to 1849.^[1]

The square contains a fountain commemorating the 250th anniversary of the founding of the Georgia colony, donated by the Colonial Dames of Georgia in 1984, as well as cobblestone sidewalks.^[2][3][4]

Adjacent to the square is the Roman Catholic Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist. Given this proximity, Lafayette Square features prominently in Savannah's massive Saint Patrick's Day celebrations. Water in the fountain is dyed green for the occasion.^[5]

In this area is the museum known as the Flannery O'Connor Childhood Home, which is open to the public.

Dedication

Namesake	Image	Note
Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette		The square is named for Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757–1834), French aristocrat and military officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War.

Markers and structures

Name	Image	Note
Fountain		The square's fountain, looking south to the former site of the Marist Place at today's 123 East Charlton Street
Fountain		A video of the fountain.

Constituent buildings

Each building below is in one of the eight blocks around the square composed of four residential "tything" blocks and four civic ("trust") blocks, now known as the Oglethorpe Plan. They are listed with construction years where known.

Gallery

• 
  Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist, 222 East Harris Street
• 
  Hamilton-Turner Inn, 330 Abercorn Street
• 
  Battersby–Hartridge–Anderson House, 119 East Charlton Street
• 
  Marist Place, 123 East Charlton Street
• 
  Catherine McMahon House, 211 East Charlton Street
• 
  Fitzgerald Pelot Duplex, 221–223 East Charlton Street
• 
  Andrew Low Carriage House, 329 Abercorn Street
• 
  319 Abercorn Street
• 
  Henrietta Cohen Property, 312–314 Drayton Street
• 
  340 Abercorn Street
• 
  104 East Harris Street
• 
  Centurian House, 106 East Harris Street
• 
  118 and 124 East Harris Street
• 
  John B. Gallie House, 201–203 East Charlton Street

References