Drayton Street

{{Short description|Prominent street in Savannah, Georgia}} {{Use American English|date=April 2022}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox street | name = Drayton Street | marker_image = | image = 1002-1010 DRAYTON STREET, WEST ELEVATIONS - Savannah Victorian Historic District, Bounded by Gwinnett, East Broad, West Broad Street and Anderson Lane, Savannah, Chatham County, HABS GA,26-SAV,53-11.tif | image_size = | image_alt = | image_map = | caption = A mid-20th-century view of the stretch of Drayton Street at the southeastern corner of Forsyth Park | map_type = | map_size = | map_caption = | map_alt = | former_names = | part_of = | namesake = Ann Drayton | length_mi = 2 | length_ref = | location = Savannah, Georgia, U.S. | direction_a = North | terminus_a = East Bay Street | direction_b = South | terminus_b = East Victory Drive (U.S. Route 80) | junction = | commissioning_date = | construction_start_date = | completion_date = | inauguration_date =  }} '''Drayton Street''' is a prominent street in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Located between Bull Street to the west and Abercorn Street to the east, it runs for about {{convert|2|miles}} from East Bay Street in the north to East Victory Drive (U.S. Route 80) in the south. It is named for Ann Drayton, a member of a noted family in Charleston, South Carolina,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stramm |first=Polly Powers |title=Polly's People: The 'curious' naming of historic streets |url=https://www.savannahnow.com/story/lifestyle/columns/2016/09/02/pollys-people-curious-naming-historic-streets/13916906007/ |access-date=2022-04-13 |website=Savannah Morning News |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Drayton Hall The Women of Drayton Hall: Ann Drayton, Rebecca Perry Drayton, and Charlotte Drayton Manigault - Drayton Hall |url=https://www.draytonhall.org/the-women-of-drayton-hall-ann-drayton-rebecca-perry-drayton-and-charlotte-drayton-manigault/ |access-date=2022-04-13 |website=www.draytonhall.org|date=March 11, 2015 }}</ref> who had lent four sawyers to assist colonists in building one of the first homes in Savannah.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Russell |first=David Lee |title=Oglethorpe and Colonial Georgia: A History, 1733-1783 |publisher=McFarland & Company |year=2006 |isbn=9780786422333}}</ref><ref name=orsolits>{{Cite book |last=Orsolits |first=Barbara Spence |title=The Draytons Of Drayton Hall: Land, Kinship Ties And The British on Hall: Land, Kinship Ties And The British Atlantic World |publisher=Georgia State University |year=2019}}</ref> The street is one-way (northbound).<ref>{{Cite web |title=One-way street changes in the works for downtown Savannah? |date=May 12, 2016 |url=https://www.wtoc.com/story/31958471/one-way-street-changes-in-the-works-for-downtown-savannah |access-date=2022-04-21 |language=en}}</ref> Its northern section passes through the Savannah Historic District, a National Historic Landmark District.<ref name="nrhpinv2">James Dillon (1977) {{NHLS url|id=66000277|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: The Savannah Georgia NHL Historic District}}, National Park Service and {{NHLS url|id=66000277|title=''Accompanying 25 photos, from 1964, 1973''|photos=y}}</ref>

On the northern side of East Bay Street, beneath the Savannah Cotton Exchange, the Drayton Street Ramp leads down through Factors Walk to River Street at the Savannah River. In the 19th century, the city allowed the Exchange to build on top of ramp, as long as they left the ramp accessible below, hence its unique design.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4Rj8Ajey4M "Savannah's Historic Waterfront An Architectural and Urban Tour"] – Dr Robin Williams, the Chair of Architectural History at Savannah College of Art and Design, Urban Traces, YouTube, May 4, 2020</ref> Sometime after 1857, the ramp was walled off, preventing access to and from River Street via Bay Street. Claghorn and Cunningham had petitioned the city council to erect a wall at the foot of the street to prevent the flow of sand down from the bluff which would impede their building plans.<ref>''Republican'', October 17, 1856</ref>

Drayton Street runs beside nine squares. From north to south:

;To the west of: *Reynolds Square *Oglethorpe Square *Lafayette Square *Taylor Square

;To the east of: *Johnson Square *Wright Square *Chippewa Square *Madison Square *Monterey Square

It also forms the eastern boundary of Forsyth Park.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Savannah, GA's Historic Forsyth Park |url=https://gosouthsavannah.com/historic-district-and-city/squares-and-parks/forsyth-park.html |access-date=2022-04-12 |website=Go South! Savannah |language=en}}</ref>

==Notable buildings and structures== {{see also|Buildings in Savannah Historic District}} [[File:Candler hospital.jpg|thumb|The former Savannah/Candler Hospital overlooks the northeastern corner of Forsyth Park]]

Below is a selection of notable buildings and structures on Drayton Street, all in Savannah's Historic District. From north to south:<ref>[https://www.thempc.org/docs/lit/hist/maps/supplement.pdf Historic Building Map: Savannah Historic District] – Historic Preservation Department of the Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission (November 17, 2011)</ref>

*9 Drayton Street (1853), built for George Wayne Anderson; later owned by Confederate Army veteran Edward Clifford Anderson Jr. *Citizens Bank Building, 15 Drayton Street (1896), now part of the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) *Henrietta Cohen Property, 312–214 Drayton Street (1882) *Andrew Low Carriage House, 330 Drayton Street (c. 1849) *Savannah/Candler Hospital, 516 Drayton Street (1819), former site of the hospital, now part of SCAD *William Baker House, 612 Drayton Street (1872) *William Hone House, 618 Drayton Street (1872)

==References== {{reflist}}

Category:Roads in Savannah, Georgia Category:Streets in Georgia (U.S. state)