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Davenport House
Isaiah Davenport built his house in 1820, right after the second great fire.
A master builder, he had moved here from Rhode Island to help rebuild the city.
Many buildings in the historic district were designed and built by Davenport.
Slated for demolition in 1954 by the Goette Funeral Home next door (which needed
the space for parking), seven old belles saved it, thus it became the first success
story of the Historic Savannah Foundation. Money was borrowed from C&S
bank to purchase the house, turning it into a museum and gift shop.
The front entrance with the welcoming stairway and heart shaped boot scrapers is
indicative of the dirt streets of a bygone era. Many people come to Savannah
having read Eugenia Price's novels (this is her Mackay House) or have heard about
the Historic Savannah Foundation and want to see the house.
Visitors walk up either side of the front stairs, thinking that to be the entrance.
They go up to the front door and realize it is not. That is when they notice
the cat. As they head back downstairs, the cat rubs along their legs and purrs.
The cat is huge, a very large orange and white tabby cat. Visitors open the
door of the gift shop on Habersham Street side of the house and the cat bolts inside.
They begin to browse among the souvenirs and then they remember the cat. They
inquire at the front desk about the huge tabby, but the person working at the register
will reply "What cat? There hasn't been a cat in here since this became a museum
in 1955."
Many people still see the cat, hear him purr and feel him rub against their legs.
The most recounted haunting took place in the early days of the museum in the 1960s.
At that time tourists could visit every room in the house, even the attic, which
had a display of Victorian toys. One day at closing two ladies were
leaving as the gift shop clerk went to lock up behind them. They turned and
asked the clerk, "But what about the little girl in the attic?" The clerk
had kept up with everyone who came and went that day and the two ladies were the
only visitors in the museum. "What little girl?" she asked. "The little
girl in the attic playing with the toys," they replied.
The three ladies became very concerned. The clerk locked the door and went
upstairs to find the girl. She came back down and said there was no one in
the attic. All three searched the house but found no one. The clerk
looked out a second floor window and saw a small girl dressed in a white dress
and with long golden curls. The other ladies were summoned. "That's
the girl we saw in the attic."
Concerned for the child's safety, the three ladies went into the garden. Again
the clerk locked the door as they exited. The little girl was no longer in
the garden so they thought she might have gone to the front tof the house.
They walked into Columbia Square searching, but she was nowhere to be found.
The ladies looked up at the house to see the girl gazing back at them from the top
left dormer window.
On occasion someone will still ask "Who's the little girl in the top left window
of that house?" but they have no idea they are looking at a ghost. |
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