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Bull Street

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bull Street
Savannah College of Art and Design's (SCAD) Poetter Hall at 342 Bull Street, immediately south of Madison Square
NamesakeWilliam Bull
Length3.39 mi (5.46 km)
LocationSavannah, Georgia, U.S.
North endBay Street
South endDerenne 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

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

Name Ward Image Address Date Note
The Citizens and Southern Bank Derby Ward 22 Bull Street 1907 now Bank of America
Christ Church Derby Ward 28 Bull Street 1838/1897
Lutheran Church of the Ascension Percival Ward 120 Bull Street (21 East State Street, includes Drayton Street) 1879
Tomochichi Federal Building and United States Courthouse Percival Ward 125 Bull Street 1899
Independent Presbyterian Church Brown Ward 207 Bull Street 1817/1891
The Savannah Theatre Brown Ward 222 Bull Street 1820
James Oglethorpe Monument Brown Ward Chippewa Square 1910
First Baptist Church Brown Ward 223 Bull Street 1833/1922
Masonic Temple Jasper Ward 341 Bull Street 1912 now the Gryphon Tea Room, by Freemason Hyman W. Witcover
Poetter Hall Jasper Ward 340-344 Bull Street 1893 by William G. Preston
St. John's Episcopal Church Jasper Ward 325 Bull Street 1853 by Calvin N. Otis
Charles W. Rogers Duplex Monterey Ward 423-425 Bull Street 1858 by John S. Norris; later the home of Lee Adler and his wife Emma
Mercer Williams House Monterey Ward 429 Bull Street 1871 by John S. Norris, restored by James Arthur Williams
440 Bull Street Monterey Ward 440 Bull Street 1900
Armstrong House Monterey Ward 447 Bull Street 1917 now the Armstrong Kessler Mansion; formerly bought and restored by James Arthur Williams
Edmund Molyneux House Monterey Ward 450 Bull Street 1857 now 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]

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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."

References

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  1. ^ Savannah's Bull Street: The Man Behind Its Name – B. H. Levy
  2. ^ Bull Street: Savannah, Georgia – Planning.org
  3. ^ Savannah's Old Jewish Burial Ground, The Georgia Historical Quarterly, volume 34, no. 4 (December 1950), p. 267
  4. ^ Historic Building Map: Savannah Historic District – Historic Preservation Department of the Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission (November 17, 2011)
  5. ^ Gingerbread House official website
  6. ^ "Savannah's 'gingerbread' house under new ownership". Savannah Morning News. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
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