SAVANNAH, Ga ()– Savannah has 291 years of history, much of it on full display to the delight of residents and visitors alike, but many people don’t know that we almost lost it to decay.

In the 1950’s, Savannah had been in decline for nearly fifty years.
The economy forced residents and business owners to surrender the upkeep of the city’s oldest buildings and public spaces.

It got so bad that the owners of a funeral home (now the Kehoe House) wanted to razz the Davenport House to install a parking lot. Local residents Anna Hunter and Lucy McIntire thought this was a terrible idea, so they gathered friends Katherine Clark, Elinor Dillard, Anna Hunter, Dorothy Roebling, Nola Roos, and Jane Wright to figure out what to do. Together, they had the skillsets and connections to apply pressure where it was needed most. It came down to the value of the bricks in the Davenport structure, so the ladies raised $22,500 to purchase the bricks (in building form) and saved the Davenport House from demolition.

It did not take long for them to look around and see there needed to be an organization to save more buildings in the city, and thus they were the catalyst for the Historic Savannah Foundation. Over the last 70 years, the foundation has successfully saved, preserved, and restored more than 1000 buildings and spaces in the downtown district.

Now, there is a proposal for a monument in Columbia Square to honor these seven ladies and their contributions to our lovely city.

The monument will be located directly across from the Davenport House in the northwestern section of Columbia Square. The estimated $35,000 is being raised by the families of the seven women, and they hope to complete the project in 12 to 14 months.

Their work and preservation efforts developed the guidelines that preserve the integrity of the historic area, its beauty, spectacular architecture of the Savannah to this day.

An open meeting will be held on June 6 at 4:00 p.m. at the Metropolitan Planning Commission located at 110 East State Street in Savannah. The public is encouraged to attend.