Greenwich Cemetery (Savannah, Georgia)

Greenwich Cemetery

Details
Established| 1933[1]
Location|

330 Bonaventure Road
Savannah, Georgia, United States

Coordinates| 32°3′5″N 81°2′22″W﻿ / ﻿32.05139°N 81.03944°W﻿ / 32.05139; -81.03944
Type| Public municipal
Owned by| City of Savannah
Size| 65-acre (263,000 m2)[1]
Website| Greenwich Cemetery
Find a Grave| Greenwich Cemetery

Greenwich Cemetery is a rural cemetery located on a scenic bluff of the Wilmington River, east of Savannah, Georgia.[2] It stands on the site of the former Greenwich Plantation and became an addition to Bonaventure Cemetery (itself on the former grounds of Bonaventure Plantation) in 1933,[3] and it is the newest of the city's four municipal cemeteries.[2]

The entrance to the cemetery, located at 330 Bonaventure Road, is shared with Bonaventure Cemetery.[2] Immediately inside the gates is the large and ornate Gaston Tomb of William Gaston.

## History

[edit]

In 1896, long after Greenwich Plantation was demolished, naval stores magnate Spencer P. Shotter purchased the land and built a Beaux-Arts mansion and extensive gardens. The house and grounds were used in several silent films (including Stolen Moments)[4] before the house burned to the ground in 1923.[5] The City of Savannah purchased the land in 1933.[6] With it came fourteen of Shotter's statues, which the city placed into storage. They remained stored until 1965, at which point they were loaned to Savannah's Telfair Museums.[5] In 2020, the city approved the sale of sixteen of the statues,[7] with a collective price tag of $400,000. One item was kept because it was part of a set of two, the other part being on display at Telfair.[8]

## Greenwich Park

[edit]

A 3.5-acre section of the cemetery has been made into a passive park or meditation area for visitors.[2][3]

## Notable burials

[edit]

* Danny Hansford (1960–1981)[9]
* Cecelia Seiler (1933–2014), wife of Sonny Seiler and co-owner of Uga[10]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Greenwich Cemetery – SavannahGA.gov
2. ^ a b c d "Bonaventure Cemetery". City of Savannah Department of Cemeteries. City of Savannah. Archived from the original on June 15, 2008. Retrieved August 15, 2008.
3. ^ a b Greenwich Cemetery Park – EMC Engineering, Inc.
4. ^ "Greenwich At Bonaventure: The Mansion, The Gardens & Statuary, The Movies: Rudolph Valentino-Stolen Moments Shooting Locations – Savannah GA" – Eartfilm.com
5. ^ a b "Before Midnight, Bonaventure and the Bird Girl Exhibition Guide" – Telfair Museums
6. ^ "Bonaventure Cemetery: An Iconographical Insight into Victorian Views on Death" – SouthernArt.UA.edu
7. ^ Greenwich Statuary Stores Pieces – Savannah.gov
8. ^ "Savannah City Council votes to sell all but one ancient Roman, Italian statues" – Fox 28 Savannah, April 9, 2020
9. ^ Greenwich Cemetery Records – Interment.net
10. ^ "Cecelia Seiler, ‘mom of Uga,’ dies in Savannah" – Athens Banner-Herald, June 5, 2014

## External links

[edit]

* Greenwich Cemetery – SavannahGA.gov
* Greenwich Cemetery Savannah, GA – YouTube, April 1, 2012