Reynolds Square - Savannah, GA
N 32° 04.763 W 081° 05.355
17S E 491577 N 3549238
Quick Description: There is a legend that one of the buildings on the square was used as a hospital for malaria patients and the dead were burned in the square. Some people have had strange results when photographing the statue which they attribute to ghosts.
Location: Georgia, United States
Date Posted: 6/13/2008 7:00:27 PM
Waymark Code: WM3ZWA
Views: 87
Long Description:
From the Ghost in My Suitcase
"http://www.ghostinmysuitcase.com/places/reynolds/index.htm">web
site:
As a local legend goes, one of the buildings just off the
property was used as a hospital for malaria patients, and a there
was a makeshift crematorium in the center of what is now Reynolds
square. Bodies were gathered not only from the hospital, but from
local homes as well. Victims of the disease were wrapped in a
bedsheet and their bodies were burned to prevent the spread of the
terrible disease. There is some question, however, as to the
thoroughness of the attendants; most of the bodies were certainly
dead, but a few had probably only lapsed into a coma-like state
from the disease. These people were literally burned alive in the
center of the square.
That was long ago, however, and in 1969 the Methodists of
Georgia erected a statue of Reverend John Wesley, the founder of
the Methodist denomination. He is said to have lived nearby, and
the statue shows him in a preaching pose. It is a well-photographed
attraction in Savannah, but often the photographs show strange
colors or hazy patterns, if the photos turn out at all. Many people
blame the photographic anomalies on the spirits of those poor souls
who were burned alive in Reynolds Square.
From the City of Savannah
"http://www.ci.savannah.ga.us/cityweb/p&tweb.nsf/4bf6a0ca45844e1685256c2f0071a3fb/f020bfdf52c9d03485256c5a004a73e1?OpenDocument">web
site:
The John Wesley Monument in the center of Reynolds Square was
erected in 1969 by the John Wesley Monument Committee. and consists
of a stepped and blocked rectangular granite pedestal, inscribed on
all sides, supporting a bronze statue of John Wesley.
John Wesley is the founder of Methodism. Wesley came to Savannah
in 1736 as an Anglican clergyman to the Colony of Georgia.
Returning to England in 1738, his stay in Savannah was short.
inspired by his associations with Moravians in Georgia and later in
England, he revised his ideas and eventually formed the United
Societies, a Protestant sect which evolved into the Methodist
Church. In Savannah, Wesley resided near Reynolds Square. The
Wesley Monumental Church, located on the periphery of Reynolds
Square, is named in his honor.
From the Our Coast
"http://www.ourcoast.com/savannahcityguide/visiting/tours/savannah/reynolds.shtml">web
site:
Mapped out in 1734 as Lower New Square, Reynolds Square was home
to the Filature, where cocoons were brought and silk woven. Hopes
for a flourishing silk industry were dashed when fire destroyed the
Filature in 1758. The square was renamed for John Reynolds, first
Royal Governor of Georgia. The statue, by sculptor Marshall
Daugherty, is of the Rev. John Wesley and was dedicated by the
Methodist Church in 1979. Mr Wesley wears clerical vestments of the
Church of England.
My experience was that I saw no ghosts and my photographs
of the statue turned out fine. However I was using a digital camera
and maybe that foils 18th century ghosts.