66 Best Sights in Savannah, Georgia

This Gothic revival–style church memorializes the founders of Methodism, brothers John and Charles Wesley, who both lived in Savannah for a brief time in the 1730s. The sanctuary is patterned after Queen's Kerk in Amsterdam. It dates from 1868 and is particularly noted for its magnificent stained-glass windows.

In 1736, General James Oglethorpe gave 500 acres to Noble Jones, who was required to build a small fort to protect Savannah from an attack up the Skidaway River. Wormsloe is the only property in Georgia remaining in the hands of descendants of the original owners. Over the years, the land was used to produce cotton, as well as fruits, vegetables, and silk. In later years it served as a dairy farm and rice mill. Many of the 400 oaks planted along the 1½-mile entry in 1891 still stand proud today—you might recognize them from the movie Forrest Gump. Today, you can tour the tabby fort ruins, wander around the historic cemetery, and take in colonial plantation reenactments.

Named for James Wright, Georgia's last colonial governor, this square has an elaborate monument in its center that honors William Washington Gordon, founder of the Central of Georgia Railroad. A granite boulder from Stone Mountain adorns the grave of Tomochichi, the Yamacraw chief who befriended General Oglethorpe and the colonists, giving his permission for the English settlers to establish their colony on Yamacraw Bluff.

Built in 1906 on the site of the Old City Exchange, this imposing structure is now home to the city council. Its landmark tower clock and bells played a significant role in the day-to-day business of Savannah in the days before everyone owned a pocket watch. City Hall is open to the public on weekdays, and visitors can admire the dramatic four-story rotunda crowned with a stained-glass inner dome, mosaic tiles, marble wainscoting, mahogany and live-oak pediments and banisters, and stately fountain. Free tours are offered the first Tuesday of each month at noon, but reservations are a must.

Celebrated Southern author Flannery O'Connor lived in this austere Charlton Street home from her birth in 1925 until 1938 when the family moved to Milledgeville, Georgia. The beautifully renovated home includes oddities like the "kiddie coop," a cage for children designed by O'Connor's father. In fall, the home hosts a reception with lectures by academics and experts discussing different aspects of O'Connor's life and work. Events are free and open to the public.

Designed by New York architect John Norris and built in 1850 for cotton merchant Charles Green, this Gothic-revival mansion cost $93,000 to build—a princely sum in those days. The house was purchased in 1892 by Judge Peter Meldrim, whose heirs sold it to St. John's Episcopal Church in the 1940s to use as a parish house. General Sherman lived here after taking the city in 1864. Sitting on Madison Square, the house has Gothic features such as oriels, a crenellated roof, and an external gallery with filigree ironwork. Inside are mantels of Carrara marble, carved black-walnut woodwork, and doorknobs and hinges of either silver plate or porcelain.