Historic Savannah Foundation

Historic Savannah Foundation is a preservation organization founded in 1955 and based in Savannah, Georgia, United States.[3]

Historic Savannah Foundation

The HSF office, 321 East York Street (built 1818)
Abbreviation	HSF
Founded	1955
Founders	• Anna Colquitt Hunter • Katherine Judkins Clark • Elinor Adler Dillard • Lucy Barrow McIntire • Dorothy Ripley Roebling • Nola McEvoy Roos • Jane Adair Wright
Type	Non-profit
Focus	Preserving and protecting historic buildings
Headquarters	321 East York Street[1]
Location	Savannah, Georgia, U.S.
Area served	Savannah, Georgia, U.S.
Services	Preservation
Key people	• Susan Adler (CEO and President)[2] • Ryan Arvay (Director of Preservation and Historic Properties)[2]
Website	https://www.myhsf.org/

In 1954, Savannah's popular City Market in Ellis Square was demolished to be replaced by a parking garage, prompting a public outcry.[4] The following year, a funeral home was set to purchase the Isaiah Davenport House in Columbia Square and tear it down for a parking lot.[5] This sparked a movement to start a preservation process in the city.[5]

"What began as an effort to save one house quickly turned into an organized movement that went on to save an entire city." – Historic Savannah Foundation[5]

Local journalist, artist and activist Anna Colquitt Hunter (1892–1985)[6] formed a group with six of her friends to block the demolition of the house and formed the Historic Savannah Foundation. The group managed to raise the $22,500 needed to purchase the property themselves.[5]

The office of the foundation is in the southwest tything of the Columbia Square, at 321 East York Street.[1] It had formerly been at the Isaiah Davenport House at 324 East State Street.[7]