As a Georgia native and preservationist, I'm embarrassed to admit that I've visited Savannah once. In my grad school program at the University of Georgia, a Savannah pilgrimage is a tradition. First-year students go on a week-long exploration of the city to walk the historic squares and learn about the beginnings of the preservation movement. The program's fearless leader, Professor Waters, recently returned from Savannah with his first undergraduate Introduction to Preservation class, and it got me reminiscing about our class's trip in 2010. Professor Water's trip to Savannah is an absolute whirlwind; there of several days of house museums, lectures, and the notorious "death march" throughout the historic district squares, not to mention our after-hours explorations. On one of our long days of historic district marching, we stopped at the Hilton Savannah DeSoto hotel for a break.  On my way into the lobby, this gorgeous, yet lonely tile grabbed my attention. I found out later, it was one of the original ornamental tiles from the Old DeSoto Hotel.

Savannah’s Old DeSoto Hotel

Savannah, like Charleston, is a model community for historic preservation, having some of the first designated historic districts in the country.  The old DeSoto Hotel was one of the significant casualties in Savannah during the early years of historic district designation.  Hotel DeSoto opened in 1890 and was revered as one of William Gibbons Preston's masterpieces.  Unfortunately, the Hilton chain demolished the hotel in 1968 because it didn't have air conditioning.  They did save some of the terracotta ornamentation (like the tile above) and photographs from the original hotel. These remaining artifacts are on display in the current hotel entrance and in the lobby.

Who was William Gibbons Preston?

William Gibbons Preston was a Boston architect but was responsible for some of the most remarkable Romanesque buildings in Savannah. Some of Preston's other Savannah works include the Savannah Cotton Exchange, Poetter Hall (former armory now a SCAD building), and the former Chatham County Courthouse.

The architecture in Savannah is a definite show stopper, terracotta buildings being my favorite. There are guided tours aplenty in Savannah like the popular downtown trolley tours and haunted pub crawls. But if you prefer to go it alone, you can create your own walking tour downtown and enjoy walking through the historic squares and oogling all the architectural landmarks around. If you're an architecture nerd like me, check out this list of architectural landmarks in Savannah and add a few to your list.

Have you been to Savannah?