Savannah began expanding beyond the downtown area in the second half of the nineteenth century. Facilitated by the installation of horse-drawn streetcar lines beginning in 1867 (electrified from 1888), private residential developments appeared principally south and southeast of downtown. Prior to 1900, all of Savannah’s suburbs followed a conventional grid plan, though continuing to incorporate mid-block lanes from the downtown Savannah plan. The less affluent areas to the east and west were populated mainly by African Americans, as racial segregation played a powerful role in shaping the suburban landscape of Savannah. Early-twentieth-century automobile suburbs, notably Ardsley Park, Chatham Crescent, and Gordonston, reflected the grand manner of urban design tendencies that typified the City Beautiful Movement. Such neighborhoods were developed with racial covenants, typically lasting twenty years, ensuring they would begin as purely white enclaves (though often with African American live-in servants). Following World War II, the civil rights movement found fertile ground along Savannah’s west side.
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