Designed in 1904 and opened in 1906, this domed, Beaux-Arts structure stands at the north end of Bull Street, the start of our tour. While it’s more than a century old, this civic structure represents modernity in downtown Savannah, according to architectural historian Robin Williams. Capped in paper-thin 23-karat gold, the building was inspired by the structures of the 1893 World’s Fair, Chicago’s famous White City. Inside, visitors can see other hints of than cutting-edge building and design, including an open-cage elevator with a wrap-around staircase. (Photo by Ron Cogswell: Flickr/Creative Commons)

While Savannah’s current seat of power sits across the street, this building symbolizes where much of the port city’s power originated, trade and commerce. This lot on Bull Street was once home to the founder of the colony of Georgia, James Edward Oglethorpe, who built a wood-frame home here in the early 18th century, as well as the Tabernacle where John Wesley, the famous Methodist preacher. The current federal Custom House building, designed by New York architect John Norris, was finished in 1852. One of the oldest metal-framed structures in the United States, the blocky, imposing structure has a roof made of wrought iron plates. Take a close look at the fence and you’ll see an ancient reference to government power: the Roman fasci pattern, wooden rods bound with a leather strap that symbolized unifying power of the Senate. (sfgamchick:Flickr/Creative Commons)

Named after Georgia’s first governor, Johnson Square is, along with Chippewa, the largest square in the city, and host to the Nathanael Greene Monument, celebrating a Revolutionary War general. The creation of the 50-foot marble obelisk, one of many civic monuments across the country erected in the 1820s to commemorate the Revolutionary War, was inspired by the Marquis de Lafayette’s nationwide tour in 1824 and 1825. At first, the monument, highlighting the trend of Egyptian structures found in other European cities at the time, such as the Place de la Concorde in Paris, was a military monument. But in 1902, Greene’s remains were interred below, making it both a military and memorial monument. (J. Stephen Conn: Flickr/Creative Commons)

The first church in the Georgia colony, this imposing structure, originally designed by James Hamilton Couper, takes the form of a Roman Temple. This is the fourth church on the site, as other have burned down over the centuries. (Dave Hedges: Flickr/Creative Commons)

Showcasing “Chicago form in a Baroque coat,” according to Williams, this squat, five-story structure is actually Savannah’s first skyscraper. Now owned by the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), this 1895 building, designed by Gottfried L. Norrman for Citizens Bank, showed the city embracing progressive ideas. While relatively small, this terra cotta-covered rectangular box contains all the hallmarks of the early class of skyscrapers: steel frame, elevator, and curtain walls. (inferno95: Flickr/Creative Commons)

Sometimes called Courthouse Square because of the nearby county building, this bucolic space has been home to a series of intriguing and odd monuments. The square lays claim to perhaps the first public monument in what would become the United States, a 1739 stone monument put in place by Oglethorpe to celebrate Tomochichi, a Yamacraw chief who served as a go-between with native tribes and the English settlers and helped the early colony prosper. By the end of the 18th century, that stone monument had mysteriously vanished, to be replaced with the limestone-and-granite William Washington Gordon Monument in 1883. Tomochichi wasn’t forgotten, however; a monument in his honor was erected nearby in 1899. The square was also temporarily the home of a “moon tower,” a 130-foot-tall arc light that was temporarily used as turn-of-the-century urban lighting. (Ken Lund: Flickr/Creative Commons)

This turn-of-the-century federal building stands as one of the most celebrated of its era, a beautiful example of Renaissance Revival architecture clad in gorgeous white Georgia marble. First designed by Jeremiah O’Rourke and William M. Aiken, expanded in the ‘30s, and restored just a few years ago, the structure boasts a beautiful array of elaborate windows and a signature bell tower overlooking Wright Square. (Wikimedia Commons)

International Style is a rarity in a town with such a surfeit of classical styles, but this 1947 design by Cletus W. Bergen offers a touch of modernism amid the traditional beauty. First built for the Lerner Shops company from New York, the building is now home to a local jewelry chain, and stands at the intersection of Bull and Broughton, a main commercial thoroughfare. (Steve Hill: Flickr/Creative Commons)

The much-photographed, mutlistory sign gives this renovated theater a bit of character and moxie, a lively facade for what claims to be the oldest continuously operating theater in the country. First built in 1818, the structure was ruined in large part by a fire in 1906, only to be reborn in Art Moderne splendor, complete with wave-patterned pavement. (Brandon: Flickr/Creative Commons)

Named after President Madison, this park contains a pair of cannons signifying early Savannah highways. The statue at the center commemorates William Jasper, a local Revolutionary War hero who died during the 1779 Siege of Savannah. (Jason A G: Flickr: Creative Commons)

One of the two larger squares in the city’s historical district, and made famous by the iconic bench scene in Forrest Gump, Chippewa Square is dominated by a striking statue of James Oglethorpe, designed by the renowned duo of Daniel Chester French and Henry Bacon (who also created the Lincoln Memorial). The statue was dedicated in 1910 and constructed by the Dixie Stone Company. (Bev Norton: Flickr/Creative Commons)

This red brick armory, once the barracks of the Savannah Volunteer Guards, has also become a symbol for the recent revitalization of the Southern city’s downtown. In 1978, it became the first structure to be renovated and reused by the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), and still stands as the college’s flagship building. The transformation of this fortress-like building, originally constructed from 1892-1893, set the blueprint for SCAD’s redevelopment of dozens of historic properties. (SCAD)

This seven-story masonic temple speaks to the influence of the secret society, and stands as a reminder of a much-touted origin theory for Savannah: the famous grid was based on Masonic concepts. A steel-frame skyscraper designed by Mason Hyman Witcover, the building features the “bizarre classicism” found in other Masonic lodges, according to Gobel, with ceremonial spaces inside painted in special colors. (Glenna Barlow: Flickr/Creative Commons)

Another square, another military hero; this scenic green space features a towering monument to the life of Casimir Pulaski, a Polish nobleman who served in the Continental Army and died in the nearby Battle of Savannah. During his tour of the country in 1825, the Marquis de Lafayette laid a cornerstone for the monument. (Faungg's Photos: Flickr/Creative Commons)

One of the most legendary homes in the city, home to singer-songwriter Johnny Mercer and a key setting for the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, this exquisite John Norris design has become an icon. Started before the Civil War and finally finished in 1868, it’s a love-letter to Italianate architecture. Now that it’s been restored and turned into a museum, it is a must-see for architecture buffs. (Jeff Gunn: Flickr/Creative Commons)

Talk about prime real estate: This gorgeous Beaux-Arts home, a standout due to its large lot size and eye-catching curved colonnade, looks out over Forsyth Park, the Central Park of Savannah. It’s currently in use by a local law firm, but it was sold earlier this year to a local hotelier. (nathy_0308: Flickr/Creative Commons)

A fitting end for a stroll down the upper reaches of Bull Street, Savannah’s centerpiece park grew into one of the finest, and first, municipal parks in the country, filled with tree-shaded paths and expansive picnic space. Beginning with a land grant from William Hodgson in 1846—his name in on the yellow Georgia Historical Society building adjacent to the park—and expanded when the city took over formerly military parade grounds, which used to hold “dummy forts” used for military drills, its “become the model for great parks,” according to Gobel, “doing what Central Park does on a smaller scale.” Perhaps the most relaxing spot in the city is on one of the benches surrounding the park’s expansive cast-iron fountain at the center of the park, a zinc beauty modeled after the Crystal Palace fountain in London. (Via Tsuji: Flickr/Creative Commons)