Greenwich Cemetery (Savannah, Georgia)

Greenwich Cemetery is a rural cemetery located on a scenic bluff of the Wilmington River, east of Savannah, Georgia.[2] It stands on the site of the former Greenwich Plantation and became an addition to Bonaventure Cemetery (itself on the former grounds of Bonaventure Plantation) in 1933,[3] and it is the newest of the city's four municipal cemeteries.[2]

Greenwich Cemetery
Details
Established1933[1]
Location
330 Bonaventure Road
Savannah, Georgia, United States
Coordinates32°3′5″N 81°2′22″W
TypePublic municipal
Owned byCity of Savannah
Size65-acre (263,000 m2)[1]
WebsiteGreenwich Cemetery
Find a GraveGreenwich Cemetery

The entrance to the cemetery, located at 330 Bonaventure Road, is shared with Bonaventure Cemetery.[2] Immediately inside the gates is the large and ornate Gaston Tomb of William Gaston.

History

In 1896, long after Greenwich Plantation was demolished, naval stores magnate Spencer P. Shotter purchased the land and built a Beaux-Arts mansion and extensive gardens. The house and grounds were used in several silent films (including Stolen Moments)[4] before the house burned to the ground in 1923.[5] The City of Savannah purchased the land in 1933.[6] With it came fourteen of Shotter's statues, which the city placed into storage. They remained stored until 1965, at which point they were loaned to Savannah's Telfair Museums.[5] In 2020, the city approved the sale of sixteen of the statues,[7] with a collective price tag of $400,000. One item was kept because it was part of a set of two, the other part being on display at Telfair.[8]

Greenwich Park

A 3.5-acre section of the cemetery has been made into a passive park or meditation area for visitors.[2][3]

Notable burials

References
  1. Greenwich Cemetery – SavannahGA.gov
  2. "Bonaventure Cemetery". City of Savannah Department of Cemeteries. City of Savannah. Archived from the original on 2008-06-15. Retrieved 2008-08-15.
  3. Greenwich Cemetery Park – EMC Engineering, Inc.
  4. "Greenwich At Bonaventure: The Mansion, The Gardens & Statuary, The Movies: Rudolph Valentino-Stolen Moments Shooting Locations – Savannah GA" – Eartfilm.com
  5. "Before Midnight, Bonaventure and the Bird Girl Exhibition Guide" – Telfair Museums
  6. "Bonaventure Cemetery: An Iconographical Insight into Victorian Views on Death" – SouthernArt.UA.edu
  7. Greenwich Statuary Stores Pieces – Savannah.gov
  8. "Savannah City Council votes to sell all but one ancient Roman, Italian statues" – Fox 28 Savannah, April 9, 2020
  9. Greenwich Cemetery Records – Interment.net
  10. "Cecelia Seiler, ‘mom of Uga,’ dies in Savannah" – Athens Banner-Herald, June 5, 2014
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