Life on Paws and Wheels

Simba and I visited the Old Harbor Light in Savannah, Georgia , a unique 19th-century navigation beacon overlooking the Savannah River from historic Emmet Park. Also known as the Savannah Harbor Rear Range Light or Beacon Range Light , this unusual structure helped guide ships through one of the South’s busiest ports long before modern navigation technology existed. Unlike the tall coastal lighthouses most people picture, the Old Harbor Light looks almost like an enormous decorative streetlamp. Its ornate cast-iron shaft rises only about 25 feet, but because it stands high on Savannah’s bluff, the beacon itself sat roughly 77 feet above river level. That elevated position made it highly visible to ships moving through the harbor below. ⚓ Guiding Ships Through Savannah Harbor The Old Harbor Light was erected by the federal government in 1858 to improve navigation along the Savannah River. Savannah had already developed into a major commercial port, and safely moving ships through the ...

Simba and I visited the Black Holocaust Memorial in Savannah, Georgia , a deeply personal and unconventional memorial created by local folk artist James “Double Dutch” Kimble to confront the brutality of American slavery. Unlike the grand monuments found throughout Savannah’s historic district, this installation is hidden away in an alley behind Kimble’s home near East Anderson Street. There are no polished plazas, towering marble columns, or manicured grounds here. Instead, visitors encounter handmade figures created largely from wire and papier-mâché, arranged within the neighborhood where Kimble has spent decades creating art. At the center of the memorial is a shackled Black man portrayed as though he is being displayed for sale, accompanied by a woman and children whose presence evokes the devastating separation of enslaved families. It is intentionally uncomfortable. Kimble created the memorial because he believed Savannah needed a depiction of slavery that confronted visitors w...

I visited the Grave of Corinne Elliott Lawton in Savannah, Georgia , home to one of the most beautiful, haunting, and frequently photographed monuments in Bonaventure Cemetery. Her lifelike marble figure stands beside a large cross, gazing upward with a solemn expression while a fallen crown of flowers rests nearby. It's an extraordinary example of 19th-century funerary art and a monument that seems perfectly at home beneath Bonaventure's enormous live oaks and hanging Spanish moss. Corinne's grave has also inspired one of the cemetery's most dramatic legends — a tragic tale involving forbidden love, an angry father, and suicide. It's a compelling story that has been repeated for years, but surviving historical evidence tells a very different story. Separating that folklore from the real life of Corinne Elliott Lawton makes her monument even more fascinating. 👩 Who Was Corinne Elliott Lawton? Corinne Elliott Lawton was born in 1846 , the eldest daughter of Alexand...

I visited the Charles F. Mills Grave Bell in Savannah, Georgia , one of the strangest and most unsettling artifacts hidden among the elaborate tombs and moss-covered live oaks of Bonaventure Cemetery. Sitting beside the imposing Mills family tomb is a small bronze bell connected to a pipe leading into the burial space — a device reportedly installed because of one of the great fears of the 19th century: being buried alive . The bell belonged to Charles Ferdinand Mills , a wealthy Savannah businessman who died in 1876. Although the possibility of premature burial may seem like the premise of a horror story today, the fear was taken seriously enough during the 1800s to inspire patents, specialized coffins, ventilation systems, escape mechanisms, and alarm bells. More than 150 years later, Mills' surviving grave bell provides an eerie glimpse into this unusual chapter of Victorian-era funeral history. 👤 Who Was Charles Ferdinand Mills? Charles Ferdinand Mills was born in St. Augustin...

I visited the Grave of Gracie Watson in Savannah, Georgia , the heartbreaking final resting place of a six-year-old girl whose remarkably lifelike marble statue has become one of the most famous and beloved monuments in Bonaventure Cemetery. Surrounded by enormous live oaks, Spanish moss, and some of Savannah's finest funerary sculpture, the small figure of “Little Gracie” has captured the attention of cemetery visitors for generations. The beauty of the monument is striking, but the story behind it is what makes the grave so memorable. Gracie was the only child of W.J. and Frances Watson, and her sudden death from pneumonia in 1889 devastated her family. Her grieving father later commissioned sculptor John Walz to create an extraordinary life-size portrait of his daughter, leaving Savannah with a memorial that still looks hauntingly real more than a century later. 🏨 Growing Up at Savannah's Pulaski House Gracie Watson was born in 1883 , the only child of W.J. and Frances Wat...

I visited the Herman Myers Monument in Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, Georgia , the impressive final resting place of a businessman and political leader who became Savannah’s first Jewish mayor and helped guide the city through an important period of modernization around the turn of the 20th century. Bonaventure Cemetery is filled with elaborate monuments dedicated to prominent figures from Savannah’s past, but the story behind the Myers monument reaches far beyond the cemetery. During multiple terms as mayor, Herman Myers oversaw civic improvements throughout Savannah and played an important role in the construction of the magnificent City Hall that still dominates the city’s waterfront skyline today. When he died in 1909, thousands of residents came to pay their respects, demonstrating just how significant he had become to the city he helped shape. 🇩🇪 From Bavaria to Savannah Herman Myers was born in Bavaria in 1847 and immigrated to the United States as a child. Like many immi...