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Crawford Square

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1841; 1981 relandscaped, Edward Pinkney/Associates; 2005 altered

Crawford Square is unique in several ways: its basketball court provides space for active recreation not found in the other squares, and it is the only one surrounded, at least in part, by a fence, a feature that originally typified most of the others. Pinkney’s design included the gazebo and a playground (removed in 2005) set atop a sunken square area lowered to reveal the original brick cistern (dating from 1850). The reason for these anomalies may stem from its sociopolitical history as the only square accessible to African Americans during segregation. In 1946 the City sponsored a basketball tournament among four low-income neighborhoods, and Crawford Ward was granted the basketball court to mark its victory. Recent efforts to have it removed have been blocked by those for whom it remains a symbol of community pride.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Robin B. Williams with David Gobel, Patrick Haughey, Daves Rossell, and Karl Schuler
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What's Nearby

Commercial Building (Atlantic Coastline Railroad Company Administrative Offices)
Susannah R. Clarke House
Beach Institute African American Cultural Center
Beach Institute African American Cultural Center (American Missionary Association Building)
Habersham Hall, SCAD (Chatham County Jail)

Citation

Robin B. Williams with David Gobel, Patrick Haughey, Daves Rossell, and Karl Schuler, "Crawford Square", [Savannah, Georgia], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/GA-02-6.24.

Print Source

Buildings of Savannah, Robin B. Williams. With David Gobel, Patrick Haughey, Daves Rossell, and Karl Schuler. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2016, 119-119.

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