Thankful Thursdays- Savannah’s Live Oaks
This November, Genteel & Bard is kicking off the Thanksgiving season with a series about the things we’re most thankful for in Savannah! There are so many incredible parts of our beautiful city, but for this series we selected the unique parts of this city that stand out to us the most! Today, we honor the live oaks that line our streets and our squares, donating their timeless beauty to our wonderful city.
The famous live oaks of Savannah, Georgia were planted mostly in the 1890s. The city had witnessed the terrible squalls of the Civil War, and citizens were struggling to recover from the traumas they had endured. The city appointed a committee to beautify the city with the intention to boost morale and recover the parts of the city that had been damaged in the war. Luckily for us, the “pretty committee” decided to plant live oaks anywhere they could.
Today, the oak saplings of the 1890s have grown to become beautiful, formidable guardians that surround the city with shade and an aura of peace. In the relentless southern summers, the shade from these gigantic trees can be the only cooling relief found on this sunny coast. When I sit under the shade of a Savannah live oak, I feel as though the rest of the world melts away into a gentle breeze that caresses my face and swirls through the wide oak leaves. It is so easy to spend an entire day with your back up against the oak, watching thousands of lives walk past you on the brick sidewalks in the squares.
Just as the sun begins to settle on the horizon, the spanish moss that drapes over the strong oak limbs takes on a golden color, radiating brilliance around the whole city. The trees cast long shadows that contour around yellow streetlights to create a romantic path for lovers to follow into the night. Even when the sun sets, and darkness settles over the city like a warm blanket; the live oaks still stand, guarding our beautiful city while she sleeps, and singing songs through a gentle breeze- telling stories from long ago.