Savannah's Colonial Park Cemetery was established in 1750 and was closed for burials before the Civil War even began. (But, Savannahans would like you to know that Federal - read: Yankee - soldiers looted the cemetery, camped out in the larger tombs, and changed the dates on several of the gravestones.)
This is the biggest Magnolia Tree I've seen in my entire life.
Sacred.
I never realized that Crape Myrtle Trees were so beautiful.
The east wall of the cemetery is constructed of brick and errant tombstones. Over the years, and through Civil War occupancies, the cemetery's gravestones were moved around. The result is that thousands of grave sites are missing their stones. Some were built into the back wall as a way to preserve them.
If you zoom to read this stone, you'll see that Joseph Muir was 11 years old when he died. His wife was 17, and their son was 12. Huh? This is an example of the pranks that Sherman's soldiers played while they camped out in the cemetery during the Civil War.
This is a strip of park just over the south fence of the cemetery. At the other end is a playground, but know what this once was? Dueling grounds. Men paced off in this exact grassy field and dueled with swords and later, with pistols. I think it's hilarious that the City of Savannah has turned it into a park with a children's playground. Whatever the history, it's beautiful, like everything else in the city.
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