Troup Square…

…then and now

“When I moved into the neighborhood in the mid-30s, all houses were occupied. One might say over-occupied since 4 or 5 people in a bed room was not unusual. The row houses rented for about $15 per month.”

Walter Schaaf

Two views of McDonough Row on Charlton St. from the 1930s

Courtesy Walter Schaaf

“Rent was due on the 1st of Oct. On 30 Sept, you could see people who couldn’t pay their rent walking across the square carrying their mattresses. They were moving to another rental unit (think Great Depression).”

Walter Schaaf

The 400 Block of E. Charlton St. (McDonough Row) in the early 1960s

The marketing of Troup Square real estate began in late 1960 when a Savannah realtor optioned Kennedy Row (the one behind us) and priced the units at $4,500. His timing was premature and he later stated that “the general deterioration of the houses put them on a par with showing a horse stable…and the stench and filth were not to be believed.”

After his option expired, Savannah antiques dealer Jim Williams (Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil) bought the row and flipped it to Savannah banker Mills B. Lane, Jr.Mr. Lane also bought McDonough Row (our row). He had them gutted and sold them to the Historic Savannah Foundation in 1969, preventing them from being razed by the City.HSF planned to sell the units for $7,000 to $10,000 but sold them to a contractor from Atlanta who began renovation in earnest.

The contractor applied for and received Section 312 funding from HUD, providing funds for 30-year mortgages at 3%, the catalyst for restoring Troup Ward.

Under construction in 1970

Early 1970s, construction complete

By 1972, over $912,000 in 312 loans had helped rehabilitate 36 houses in Troup Ward.

424 E. Charlton St., 1986, a notorious “shine” (moonshine) house in the 1940s

1989

Today

324 Habersham St. (Kennedy Row), late 1960s

Today

“When she was babysitting, my grandmother would send me to a café on the NW corner of Jones and Habersham for a bottle of Budweiser, so she could better cope with the boys she was minding.”

Walter Schaaf

Kennedy Row, then

Today

Troup Square was restored in the late 1960s, thanks mainly to C&S Bank president, Mills B.

Lane, Jr.

Laid out in 1851, Troup Square, by the 1960s, was blighted by years of abuse

and neglect.Courtesy Georgia Historical Society

“Parents would call their children (from Troup Square) by whistling. Each family had a distinctive sound to the whistling. Our family whistle was copied after the KKK assembly call. A favorite pastime was to build a fire in the square and roast potatoes in the hot coals.”

Walter Schaaf

Troup Square undergoing

restoration in 1969

Courtesy Georgia Historical Society

The Armillary Sphere was gone for a year, because…

…a drunk driver did this one rainy night in 2004.

In October 2005, it was carefully put back on its pedestal.

Neighbors & Dogs, late 1980s

Annual Troup Square Party

Annual Troup Square party normally held the last Sunday in April

321 Habersham St., Sunday brunch at the Firefly Cafe

345 Habersham St., once a Chinese laundry

Apartments converted to condos in 2008

317 E. Harris St., the Unitarian Universalist Church, originally located on Oglethorpe

Square

320-312 Habersham St.

403 E. Charlton St., once a dance studio

405-411 E. Charlton St.

417-423 E. Charlton St.

McDonough Row today