Bull Street Explained

Bull Street
Namesake:William Bull
Length Mi:3.39
Location:Savannah, Georgia, U.S.
Direction A:North
Terminus A:Bay Street
Direction B:South
Terminus B:Derenne Avenue

Bull Street is a major street in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Named for Colonel William Bull (1683–1755),[1] it runs from Bay Street in the north to Derenne Avenue (part of State Route 21) in the south. It is around 3.40 miles in length, not including the section interrupted by Forsyth Park. It is the center of a National Historic Landmark District.[2]

Savannah City Hall sits opposite the northern end of Bull Street, on Bay Street.

Bull Street goes around five of Savannah's 22 squares. They are (from north to south):

A memorial in the Oglethorpe Avenue median marks what is today known as the Bull Street Cemetery, with a plaque stating: "Original 1733 burial plot allotted by James Edward Oglethorpe to the Savannah Jewish Community". On November 3, 1761, George III "conveyed a certain half lot of land in Holland Tything, Percival Ward, to David Truan." This land was at the northwest corner of today's Bull Street and Oglethorpe Avenue. Several Jews were interred here before the family cemeteries were established.[3]

Notable buildings and structures

See also: Buildings in Savannah Historic District. Below is a selection of notable buildings and structures on Bull Street, all in Savannah's Historic District. From north to south:[4]

NameWardImageAddressDateNote
The Citizens and Southern BankDerby Ward22 Bull Street1907now Bank of America
Christ ChurchDerby Ward28 Bull Street1838/1897
Lutheran Church of the AscensionPercival Ward120 Bull Street (21 East State Street, includes Drayton Street)1879
Tomochichi Federal Building and United States CourthousePercival Ward125 Bull Street1899
Independent Presbyterian ChurchBrown Ward207 Bull Street1817/1891
The Savannah TheatreBrown Ward222 Bull Street1820
James Oglethorpe MonumentBrown WardChippewa Square1910
First Baptist ChurchBrown Ward223 Bull Street1833/1922
Masonic TempleJasper Ward341 Bull Street1912now the Gryphon Tea Room, by Freemason Hyman W. Witcover
Poetter HallJasper Ward340-344 Bull Street1893by William G. Preston
St. John's Episcopal ChurchJasper Ward325 Bull Street1853by Calvin N. Otis
Charles W. Rogers DuplexMonterey Ward423-425 Bull Street1858by John S. Norris; later the home of Lee Adler and his wife Emma
Mercer Williams HouseMonterey Ward429 Bull Street1871by John S. Norris, restored by James Arthur Williams
440 Bull StreetMonterey Ward440 Bull Street1900
Armstrong HouseMonterey Ward447 Bull Street1917now the Armstrong Kessler Mansion; formerly bought and restored by James Arthur Williams
Edmund Molyneux HouseMonterey Ward450 Bull Street1857now The Oglethorpe Club, by John S. Norris

The Gingerbread House, a popular tourist attraction in the Savannah Victorian Historic District, is at 1921 Bull Street,[5] opposite Bull Street Library. It was built by Cord Asendorf Sr. in 1899.[6]

References in popular culture

The street is also featured several times in John Berendt's 1994 book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. In the introduction to the subsequent 1997 movie, Irma P. Hall's character Minerva says to a squirrel sat beside her on a bench in Forsyth Park: "Quit eyeballin' me, Flavis. I knew you when you was a two-bit hustler on Bull Street."

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40581662?seq=1 Savannah's Bull Street: The Man Behind Its Name
  2. https://www.planning.org/greatplaces/streets/2007/bullstreet.htm Bull Street: Savannah, Georgia
  3. Savannah's Old Jewish Burial Ground, The Georgia Historical Quarterly, volume 34, no. 4 (December 1950), p. 267
  4. https://www.thempc.org/docs/lit/hist/maps/supplement.pdf Historic Building Map: Savannah Historic District
  5. https://gingerbreadhouseevents.com/ Gingerbread House official website
  6. Web site: Savannah's 'gingerbread' house under new ownership . 2022-06-10 . Savannah Morning News . en-US.