Emmet Park - Savannah, GA - Municipal Parks and Plazas on Waymarking.com

From the Round America web site:

"Emmet Park in Savannah is named for Irish orator and patriot Robert Emmet. The park features the Old City Exchange Bell and several memorials. Emmet Park is located on Bay Street near the Savannah River.

The old City Exchange Bell is on display. It is all that is left from the City Exchange building which was destroyed by a hurricane.

There is a Vietnam Veterans' Memorial which stands where a Maritime Monument's remains are. There is also a Hussars' Memorial that is an artifact from the Siege of Savannah - an iron cannon that is strapped to a concrete block. It used to be located at the corner of Bull Street and Broughton Lane. It was later moved to Emmet Park.

An Irish Memorial is located in the park as well as a medical society monument, a monument to the Chatham Artillery, and the Old Harbor Light.

Irish Monument:

In 1983, a Celtic cross, commerating Georgians of Irish ancestry, was placed in Emmet Park. The "Irish Limestone Celtic Cross" was handcarved in County Roscommon, Ireland. The total of die and base was intended to be nine feet, six inches in height, but the finished stone was somewhat smaller. It is described as having interlaced face and sides, and roped front and back with the bands sunk front and back. There is a nine-inch cap on top. It is mounted on a round base faced with Savannah grey brick.

Savannah's Irish and Robert Emmet Park:

Once known as the Strand and later as "Irish Green" because of its proximity to the Irish residents of Savannah's Old Fort neighborhood, this park was renamed in 1902 for the Irish patriot Robert Emmet (1778-1803) to commemorate the centennial of his death. Emmet, who led an unsuccessful Dublin uprising for Irish independence and was executed for treason, was a hero to Savannah's Irish community. Emmet is best known for the speech in which he asked that his epitaph not be written until "my country takes her place among the nations of the earth." A Celtic Cross sits in the grassy strip on the bluff overlooking the Savannah River. Emmet Park remains an important center of ceremonial congregation for Savannahians of Irish descent.

Savannah's Old Harbor Light:

The Old Harbor Light is located in Emmet Park. While not a "lighthouse," the restored Savannah Harbor Range Rear Light did serve as an aid to navigation. The 25-foot tall cast iron tower was built in 1858 to mark the entrance to Savannah's harbor and to help incoming ship traffic avoid sunken Revolutionary War vessels. It was restored in 2000.

The Chatham Artillery Monument:

In 1986, a light gray polished granite shaft with raking sides, slightly larger at the top than the bottom, was placed in Emmet Park by the Chatham Artillery.

The shaft is slightly larger at the top than the bottom, resting on a seven-foot square dark gray granite base on a ten foot square foundation. A bronze eagle with wings spread is mounted on the pedestal, on a slightly mounded unpolished top. The total height, eleven feet, is related to the Irish Monument which was erected in Emmet Park about the same time, as neither could exceed the "height limitation" placed on the Emmet Park monuments by the Park & Tree Commission. The design was inspired by and is quite similar to the 101st Airborne Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial:

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was erected in 1991 by the Vietnam Memorial Committee and is located in Emmet Park. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial consists of a large reflecting pool surrounded by steps and a marble block inscribed with the names of the Chatham County Vietnam soldiers killed in the war. In the center of the pool is a marble replica of the country of Vietnam. A bronze battlefield grave marker, consisting of an M-16 rifle and bayonet positioned between combat boots topped by a helmet on the rifle butt's end, is mounted at the top of the marble. "