Savannah: gray brick, squares and a very flat city

The old city is built on soft brick and lime

The Downtown Landmark Historic District became a National Historic Landmark district in 1966 and covers about 1,300 acres, including the 22 squares. Many early buildings used Savannah gray brick, made from river mud at a plantation about seven miles up the Savannah River from the 1760s until after the Civil War. It is soft brick laid in lime mortar. Hard modern cement patched over it traps moisture and can pull the face off the brick, which is why historic work asks for gentle, matching repairs.

Midtown and the Victorian District are raised wood houses

Ardsley Park and Chatham Crescent were laid out in 1909 and 1910 and are mostly wood frame houses in Revival and Victorian styles, from Victory Drive to 54th Lane. The Victorian District, the city's first streetcar suburb, was built mostly between 1870 and 1910. Houses of this age are the ones where owners most often find sagging floors, rot at the sill and termites. See the crawl space page.

Where the water went in 2024

Tropical Storm Debby put about 10 inches on Savannah in August 2024. The worst flooding was in Tremont Park on the west side, where firefighters rescued 10 people from five homes, and Bingville also took water (GPB, 7 August 2024). Savannah has required 2 feet of freeboard above base flood elevation for new or heavily renovated homes since January 2025, and an Edison Avenue home must now sit about six feet off the ground while its neighbors are on slabs (WTOC, 31 March 2026).

Which office, and when

The city's Development Services office handles building permits and requires one to dig or excavate beneath an existing building. In the local historic districts, work visible from the street needs a Certificate of Appropriateness first. The permit guide has the numbers.

Landmarks you probably use to give directions

Forsyth Park, Bull Street running through the historic core and Victory Drive with its palms are how most callers describe where they live. Use them when you explain where the house is.

A walk around your own house

Before you call anyone, walk the outside. In a downtown or Midtown house, look at the brick piers: are the mortar joints sandy and open, is a pier leaning, is a vent wall bowing? Check where the downspouts empty, because a downspout dumping beside a pier keeps that corner wet all year. Inside, roll a marble across the floor near an exterior wall and note which way it goes. Photograph what you find with the date visible. Those pictures help whoever looks later, and they help you compare what two different people tell you.

Where these facts come from

Read on 2 November 2026.

• Wikipedia: Savannah Historic District, Victorian District and Ardsley Park and Chatham Crescent District pages.
• Voicemap tour guide content on Savannah gray brick (secondary).
• GPB, 7 August 2024; WTOC, 31 March 2026.