Savannah’s Victorian suburbs, discussed at length in the downtown chapter, expanded as transportation systems provided access to available undeveloped land. With the city bound by the Savannah River to the north and by marshes to the east and west, the only easy expansion was to the south. A colonial-era mile marker that notes the one-mile distance from South Broad Street (now Oglethorpe Avenue), the city’s southern boundary at the time, is located on the west side of Bull Street just south of Henry Street. The introduction of horse-drawn streetcars in 1867 and electric streetcars in 1888 allowed this southern area to be developed, and by 1883 Savannah extended its city limits south from Anderson Street to 42nd Street and Estill Avenue (now Victory Drive). Platted in 1884, Thomas Square was originally planned for an area stretching from Bull to Abercorn streets, but was only laid out along one block between 35th and 36th streets. Its name now applies to the surrounding neighborhood.
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