Savannah, 1977
It is a truism that we don’t realize, visually, changes in a landscape when we watch it happen incrementally over time. Older photographs are a quick reminder of how different the same place has become while you were watching.
Recently a friend, the city’s archivist, asked me about seeing some older photos that might be useful for a presentation she is doing. What I pulled out reminded me of how open the riverfront used to be, used to feel.
In the early 1970’s River Street was in pretty bad shape. Much of the old wooden pier was dangerous to walk on, but open to do so. There were 2-3 clubs/bars/restaurants, but it was mostly storage and service oriented tenants. It was not a place that felt safe after dark. The city did a polishing up: re-laying the ballast stones to smooth the street, adding bulkhead and riverwalk infrastructure, and landscaping. That’s what’s happening in this photograph.
Forty seven years later, the landscaping has matured; the foliage has grown and offers shade, there’s lots of seating around, it feels “not new,” comfortable, weathered in, like it’s always been this way. Lots of tourists on some mission, purposely-headed hither and yon. Some of the changes have been architectural. The large dirt area where the delivery trucks and VW microbus are parked is now part of the footprint of the Hyatt Regency Hotel. This view no longer exists.
For anyone who might be interested in the presentation, here are the details:
A “Walk” Down River Street
In a visual history of Savannah’s historic riverfront, Luciana Spracher, Director of the City of Savannah Municipal Archives, uses detailed narrative and unforgettable images to explore the evolution of this iconic landscape, from the colonial era through the present. 12-1 PM, August 21.
Register through The Learning Center: https://seniorcitizensinc.org/the-learning-center
Another aspect of this trip down memory lane has been: for many years I looked at a lot of vintage photographs, recognizing their place in a historical context because of the flat but detailed look they had, and understanding their shortcomings needed to be forgiven for limitations of earlier technology. Turns out I’ve been doing this long enough I now have my own “vintage” photographs of a time past. History doesn’t seem to be as long ago as it used to.
For more of Bill’s photographs, go to https://www.billdurrence.com/index