Commemorates The spot where Georgia founder James Oglethorpe pitched his tent on his first night in the colony
Location Bay Street, west of City Hall
Artist Julian deBruyn Kops
Erected 1906
The Oglethorpe Bench commemorates the spot at which James Oglethorpe pitched his tent on his first night in the new settlement of Savannah. It was erected by the Georgia Society of the Colonial Dames of America in 1906.
The Oglethorpe Bench is in a small park in front of the Hyatt Hotel, near the intersection of West Bay and Whitaker Streets. About 30 yards east of the bench, in a little park at the intersection of Bull and Bay Streets, is the Yamacraw Bluff Marker, erected in 1930 to commemorate the place of the colonists’ landing. Another more modern historical marker outlines the history of the site.
See also:
– The Oglethorpe Monument (in Chippewa Square)
– More things to see and do on River Street and nearby
– Where to eat and drink near River Street
– Must-see sights in Savannah
The colony of Georgia was planned with three aims: to provide a military buffer between the British Carolinas and Spanish-controlled Florida; to provide a place of settlement for the unwanted and persecuted peoples of Britain and Europe; and to produce profitable goods for export.
In 1732, the first group of people who would settle the new colony set sail from England with James Oglethorpe, departing from Gravesend on November 17 aboard the ship Anne. In January, they arrived at Charleston, sailing from there to Beaufort, where the 35 or so families of colonists rested for a while before continuing, by smaller boats, to their new home on the Savannah River.
Oglethorpe, together with around 114 colonists, landed at the foot of Yamacraw Bluff on February 12 1733 (February 1 1732 according to the old style Julian calendar then employed, in which the year began on March 25; the discrepancy in date arose from a difference in the treatment of leap days between the new style Gregorian and old style Julian calendars).
The site had been selected and prepared for the colonists’ arrival by Oglethorpe, William Bull and Peter Gordon. A band of militia under Gordon’s leadership had already cleared a small site atop Yamacraw Bluff, constructed some basic fortifications, and erected a staircase to facilitate passage between the river level and the bluff, 40 feet higher up.
The right to settle the area had been granted by local chief Tomochichi, leader of the Yamacraw people, in negotiations with Oglethorpe. The Yamacraw’s own village was only a short distance from the new settlement at Savannah.
On their first night in the colony, the settlers put up several large tents, with Oglethorpe allocated his own, smaller tent. In the weeks and months to follow, the town was laid out on the plan designed by Oglethorpe, each modular ward arranged around a central square.
By the turn of the 20th century, Savannah had erected several monuments to individuals significant in its history, but no monument as yet commemorated the founder of both the city itself and the colony of Georgia, James Oglethorpe.
From the later 19th century, representatives of the local chapters of societies including the Sons of the Revolution, Daughters of the American Revolution and the Georgia Society of the Colonial Dames of America had pushed for such a monument to Oglethorpe, with the Oglethorpe Monument Association incorporating in 1901.
The funds to build a statue were not forthcoming, however, and in 1905, the Colonial Dames decided to go ahead with a smaller, more affordable memorial in the interim.
At the Dames’ request, the City Engineer located the spot of Oglethorpe’s landing using an old map in the office of the then mayor, which showed the historic spot as being along the former tree line on the Bay Street Strand, 75 feet east of Whitaker Street and 23 feet north of Bay.
The Colonial Dames then commissioned the design and construction of a bench to mark the place where Oglethorpe had spent his first night. It was dedicated on February 12 1906.
The curved granite bench was designed by Savannah architect Julian deBruyn Kops and manufactured by the Dixie Stone Company of Savannah.
Its design featured scrolled ends, with two semi-circular steps leading to the bench, the top step decorated with stone tile mosaic in a Mediterranean style. A plaque on the backrest of the bench explains the history of the site and the date of the memorial’s erection.
That same year, funds were finally appropriated to build a large-scale monument in honor of Georgia’s founder. The resulting Oglethorpe Monument was erected in Chippewa Square in 1910.
In 1930, the Georgia and Savannah chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution designated Yamacraw Bluff the most historic spot in the State of Georgia.
They erected a small stone marker, with bronze plaque, to commemorate the site at which the colonists landed, part of the city’s preparations for the 1933 bicentennial celebration of the founding of the colony. It is located a little to the east of the Oglethorpe Bench, between it and City Hall.
A more recent historical marker, adjacent, outlines the history of the site.
– African-American Monument
– William Washington Gordon Monument
– Nathanael Greene Monument
– Haitian Monument
– William Jasper Monument
– James Oglethorpe Monument
– Olympic Yachting Cauldron
– Casimir Pulaski Monument
– Tomochichi Memorial
– Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial
– Waving Girl Monument
– John Wesley Monument
– World War II Monument
See also:
– Museums in Savannah
– Guided tours of Savannah
– Black history sites in Savannah
– Historic house tours
– Historic District squares and parks