#52: The Old Chatham County Courthouse

“It is my hope that, through your good example, the settlement of Georgia may prove a blessing and not a curse to the Native inhabitants.”

—James Oglethorpe

The Old Chatham County Courthouse

The Old Chatham County Courthouse was built in 1889 and is located on Wright Square in the Percival Ward of Savannah’s historic district.

Initially, both the Ward and the Square on which this courthouse sits were named for Viscount John Percival, an Irish politician and member of a Parliamentary committee investigating British prison conditions. Percival became a close associate of James Oglethorpe, the chairman of the committee.

Following Parliamentary investigations into grim British prison conditions, The Trustees for the Establishment of the Colony of Georgia in America was organized by Oglethorpe and Percival, along with several philanthropists, to reform and improve the lives of poor British prisoners.

The Square was later renamed Wright Square in honor of James Wright, who served as the last Royal Governor of the Colony of Georgia.

In 1978, Chatham County built a new courthouse on property that was once occupied by Liberty Square. Oglethorpe’s original plan for Savannah included 24-squares. But unfortunately, in the 1930s, both Liberty Square and Elbert Square were destroyed to make way for U.S. Coastal Highway 17.

Liberty Square was laid out in 1799 and named for the supporters of the American Revolution, Sons of Liberty, while Elbert Square was laid out in 1801 in honor of Samuel Elbert, a revolutionary war hero.

The Old Chatham County Courthouse is among the initial buildings in Savannah designed by popular architect William Gibbons Preston. Preston would stay in Savannah several years to design the famous Desoto Hotel, which was demolished in 1965, the Savannah Volunteer Armory (PFS #14), as well as the Cotton Exchange (PFS #28), among nearly two-dozen prominent public buildings and private homes.

In the middle of Wright Square is a tall monument dedicated to William Washington Gordon, the founder of the Central of Georgia Railroad and grandfather to Girl Scout founder Juliette Gordon Low.

You’ll also find a large granite boulder directly across the street from The Old Chatham County Courthouse in Wright Square to honor Tomochichi, the Creek Native Indian chief, who befriended James Oglethorpe and the settlers when they arrived in 1733 to establish the Colony of Georgia.

Tomochichi had broken off from the Creek Nation to form his own tribe of Yamacraw, which combined Creek and Yamasee Indians. Tomochichi’s tribe had settled on the bluffs overlooking the Savannah River.

On the opposite side of Wright Square from the old Chatham County Courthouse, a second memorial to honor Tomochichi was made in 2005 when a bill was passed in the United States Congress renaming the building as The Tomochichi Federal Building and United States Courthouse.

In 1734, Tomochichi would travel to England with James Oglethorpe, where he became quite a celebrity when he met the Georgia Trustees, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and even was interviewed by the King and Queen of England. Artist William Vereist memorialized the event in a magnificent painting.