Chippewa Square: From Forrest Gump to Historic Footlights

Why is it significant?

Walk toward the center of Chippewa Square, where the bronze figure of General James Oglethorpe stands atop a marble pedestal, sword at his side, facing south toward Spanish Florida as if perpetually guarding Georgia's frontier.

Key Facts

Open the walk

Walk toward the center of Chippewa Square, where the bronze figure of General James Oglethorpe stands atop a marble pedestal, sword at his side, facing south toward Spanish Florida as if perpetually guarding Georgia's frontier. The square was laid out in eighteen fifteen to honor American soldiers who fought at the Battle of Chippawa.

Look toward the northern curb of the square: this is the exact spot where Tom Hanks sat on a fiberglass park bench in the nineteen ninety-four film Forrest Gump, sharing chocolates and life philosophies with strangers. The bench was later moved to the Savannah History Museum to protect it from overzealous souvenir hunters.

On the east side of the square stands the Savannah Theatre, founded in eighteen eighteen. It is one of the oldest continuously operating playhouses in the United States, surviving three disastrous fires and hosting theatrical legends from Edwin Booth to Lillian Russell.

Walk two blocks south along Bull Street to Madison Square.