Savannah Jigsaw Puzzles

A city built around its squares

General James Oglethorpe laid out Savannah in 1733 as a grid of streets around open squares, often called America's first planned city. The first four squares were set out that same year. The city grew to 24 squares, and 22 of them survive today. Ellis Square, lost to a parking garage in the 20th century, was rebuilt and reopened in 2010.

From cotton port to preserved city

Savannah's Cotton Exchange once helped set cotton prices for the world, and the city stayed a global cotton hub until the early 1920s. In December 1864 General Sherman reached the city at the end of his March to the Sea and offered it to President Lincoln as a Christmas present, sparing it from destruction. A preservation movement that began in the 1950s saved much of the historic district you see in these puzzles.

Five things you might not know about Savannah

1. Johnson Square, the very first square, is still the largest of the 22.
2. The bench scene that opens Forrest Gump (1994) was filmed on the north side of Chippewa Square.
3. The Girl Scouts began here: Juliette Gordon Low formed the first American troop in Savannah in 1912. Her birthplace on Oglethorpe Avenue is a National Historic Landmark.
4. The famous fountain in Forsyth Park was completed in 1858.
5. Crawford Square is the only one of the squares that still has a fence around it.

Sources: National Park Service: Savannah · Wikipedia: Squares of Savannah · Wikipedia: Juliette Gordon Low