Colonial Park Cemetery

The state historical marker names the Bullochs, the Habershams, Generals Lachlan McIntosh and Samuel Elbert, Captain Denis Cottineau, the historian Hugh McCall, the miniature painter Edward Malbone and Colonel John S. McIntosh. Button Gwinnett, who signed the Declaration of Independence for Georgia and died on May 19, 1777 after a duel with Lachlan McIntosh, is buried here too, though the exact spot is unknown. Nathanael Greene lay in the Graham vault here until 1901.

The City of Savannah, which runs it, asks that its cemeteries not be sensationalized as haunted and bars tours marketed that way from the grounds. Private evening tours tell ghost stories from outside the gates. What is documented is a burying ground of more than 9,000 graves from about 1750 to 1853, in a city that lost more than 700 people to yellow fever in 1820 and more than 1,000 in 1854.

30 to 45 minutes for a slow loop with the city's section map and a stop at the Patriots' Arch. It is inside the Historic District, on the east side of the Bull Street squares, so it fits into a walk rather than needing its own trip.

The gates open at 8 a.m. daily and close at 5 p.m. from November through March and at 8 p.m. from March through November, following daylight saving time. March and November appear in both ranges, so check the posted closing time before an evening visit in either month. No trespassing is allowed after hours.

Yes. It is a city park open to pedestrians during gate hours, with no ticket and no admission. The city runs no tours; the only things that cost money are the private daytime history walks and evening ghost tours that pass it, none of which includes entry after the gate closes.

Nobody knows exactly. Gwinnett died on May 19, 1777, three days after his duel with Lachlan McIntosh, and was buried in Colonial Park, but the location of his grave is unknown. The Daughters of the American Revolution list him among the Revolutionary veterans their 1913 arch at the entrance commemorates, and that arch is the closest thing to a memorial for him.

No. The cemetery holds duellists, not a dueling ground. Gwinnett and McIntosh fought near Savannah on May 16, 1777. James Wilde, whose grave carries the "Duellist's Grave" marker, was shot through the heart on the fourth exchange of fire on January 16, 1815, on the Carolina side of the river, by Captain Roswell P. Johnson; both were officers of the 8th United States Infantry.

The City of Savannah publishes a free one-page section map, linked on this page. It shows the sections and the layout, not individual graves, so use it to orient a loop rather than to find a specific burial. Finding an ancestor means the city's cemetery records.

Not any more. The Revolutionary general's remains lay in the Graham family vault here until 1901, when they were moved beneath the obelisk that carries his name in Johnson Square, on Bull Street a few blocks north.

The Patriots' Arch, which the Savannah chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution erected in 1913 and completed in 1914 in memory of the Revolutionary War veterans buried inside. Its plaques read "Erected by Savannah Chapter Daughters American Revolution" and "In Memory of Patriots of War American Revolution 1775-1783 Resting In Colonial Cemetery"; the DAR names Samuel Elbert, Lachlan McIntosh, Button Gwinnett and Joseph Clay among those veterans.

The Old Cemetery, the Old Brick Graveyard, the South Broad Street Cemetery and Christ Church Cemetery. You will see those names on markers and in older guidebooks. It was the second cemetery in colonial Savannah, the city's burying ground from about 1750 until burials stopped in 1853, and a city park from 1896.

Different centuries and different outings. Colonial Park is the colonial and Revolutionary city, six acres you walk into from Abercorn Street in 30 to 45 minutes between other downtown stops. Bonaventure is the Victorian and 20th-century cemetery, more than 100 acres on a river bluff three miles east that needs a car or a tour and one to two hours. There is no need to do both in one day.