SAVANNAH, Ga. — With its time-capsule collection of Victorian mansions and antebellum churches overlooking oak-shaded squares, Savannah has long taken great pride — and built a nearly $3 billion tourism economy — from its standing as a National Historic Landmark, a designation awarded to America’s most prized treasures preserved from the past.
And while nearly 2,000 historic homes and buildings survive in Savannah’s downtown landmark district, the National Park Service has found that decades of growth and modernization have steadily eroded the framework that ties them all together.
Savannah’s unique town plan of homes and buildings grouped around public squares, all connected by a grid of streets and lanes, was devised by Gen. James Edward Oglethorpe when he founded Georgia in 1733.
After months of study, the Park Service announced Tuesday that Savannah’s historic integrity has been damaged by decades of new developments, including large hotels and government buildings, that don’t fit within Oglethorpe’s original framework. The agency downgraded the condition of the landmark district from “satisfactory” to “threatened.”
