Chippewa Square Things To Do

The Forrest Gump Bench

Despite being the site of the memorial to Savannah and Georgia founder James Oglethorpe, Chippewa Square’s primary claim to fame is probably its role in the 1994 film Forrest Gump.

The Chippewa Square bench features in the scenes in which Forrest (Tom Hanks), seated at a bus stop on the northern edge of the square, narrates his life story to passersby.

Visitors hoping to sit or be photographed on the bench will unfortunately be disappointed, as it is not an original feature of the square, but a prop created for the film, a copy of which can be seen in the Savannah History Museum.

→ More about Forrest Gump’s Chippewa Square scenes and the history of its bench

Oglethorpe Monument

Chippewa Square today is the site of the Oglethorpe Monument, a tribute to British founder of the Colony of Georgia, James Oglethorpe.

Oglethorpe’s monument was unveiled in 1910, replacing a fountain and two busts of the Confederate generals Francis Bartow and Lafayette McLaws. They were removed to Thomas and Forsyth Parks, respectively.

→ More about James Oglethorpe and the history of his monument

Independent Presbyterian Church

A block north of Chippewa Square, at the intersection of Bull Street and Oglethorpe Avenue, is the Independent Presbyterian Church. Scottish immigrants founded the Church in 1755, the first Presbyterian Church in Georgia.

The original building, on Ellis Square, burned down in the 1790s. The current edifice, erected on Oglethorpe Avenue (then South Broad Street) in 1891, is the Church’s third (the second was built on Telfair Square in 1800).

It is designed in imitation of St Martin-in-the-Fields, an Anglican church on London’s Trafalgar Square, though the spire on Savannah’s church is somewhat taller.

First Baptist Church

First Baptist Church, on the west of Chippewa Square, is Savannah’s oldest surviving place of worship. The Church received its charter in 1800. From their first building on Franklin Square, the Church moved to its present location on Chippewa Square in 1833.

The building, an example of the Greek Revival style of church architecture, was designed by Elias Carter. It was very substantially renovated in the early 1920s, when a cupola was removed from the top of the church and the front redesigned in a more open style, six full columns replacing the original two.

Savannah Theatre

The Savannah Theatre has been in existence almost as long as the square itself. It was built in 1818, from the design of noted English architect William Jay (one of his earliest American works), on Chippewa Square’s northeast trust lot, only three years after it was first laid out.

Though not quite the oldest theatre in the country (that distinction goes to Philadelphia’s Walnut Street Theatre, which put on its first play in 1812) it is certainly one of the earliest, and has been in continual operation since its construction.

Jay’s original building was severely damaged by the hurricane of 1898 (as was the First Baptist Church, opposite). A disastrous fire in 1948 necessitated the Theatre’s complete renovation, the building then rebuilt in its current Art Deco style.

Visitor Info

Parking

Chippewa Square is often busy and on-street parking will be difficult to come by in the streets around the square. Try the quieter streets around Orleans and Pulaski Squares, to Chippewa’s west, instead.

Alternatively, parking is available in the large city-owned Civic Center lot west of Orleans Square, and in the Liberty Street Parking Deck (also city-owned) to the south of the Civic Center. A third city-owned option, the State Street Parking Garage on the north side of Oglethorpe Square, is a similar distance away (around 6 blocks).

Closer by, private parking (city passes not valid) is available at the Liberty Street Parking Deck to the south of Chippewa Square at Whitaker Street, with another parking lot opposite, north of Liberty.

→ More information about parking in Savannah

More Savannah Squares

– Calhoun Square
– Chatham Square
– Columbia Square
– Crawford Square
– Ellis Square
– Franklin Square
– Greene Square
– Johnson Square
– Lafayette Square
– Liberty and Elbert Squares
– Madison Square
– Monterey Square
– Oglethorpe Square
– Orleans Square
– Pulaski Square
– Reynolds Square
– Telfair Square
– Troup Square
– Warren Square
– Washington Square
– Whitefield Square
– Wright Square