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    Forsyth Park

 Originally named Forsyth Place, by the mid 1850s, one portion of the original lands of the colonial Savannah gardens were transformed into the Forsyth Park . Formerly the parade grounds, today Forsyth Park (Savannah's central park) offers the perfect place for a Savannah stroll, jog, or photography within the 2.5 miles of the Savannah Historic District.

In 1733, the lands around Forsyth Place [now Forsyth Park] comprise much of the designated 5-acre Savannah garden lots of colonial Savannah, Georgia's earliest British and European settlers. During the Civil War, Union soldiers encamped here.  Hawking "Peanuts, parched 'n boiled," peanut vendors formerly drew the fascination of park visitors.

This 30-acre park is bordered on the north by Gaston Street, on the south by Park Avenue and has a one-mile perimeter popular among outdoor enthusiasts. The northern section of the park was donated to the city by William Hodgson, a private citizen, who felt the city needed a large public park. In 1851, the park was expanded and named for John Forsyth, a Georgia Governor. The park’s north end is home to a cast iron fountain that was erected in 1858. The Forsyth Park Fountain was designed to resemble the grand fountain in Paris at the Place de la Concorde. An exact replica of the Forsyth Park Fountain resides in Cuzco, Peru. The park is also adorned by monuments to the Confederate Soldier, the Marine Corps Monument, the Spanish-American Monument and the Fragrant Garden for the Blind. The Forsyth Park Fountain is one of the most visited attractions by visitors to Savannah.

Today the former parade grounds now host outdoor stage concerts, exhibits, soccer tournaments, tennis matches, Savannah's official Christmas tree, and Frisbee games. For those on a bicycle race or tour, riding through Forsyth Park, you will be cycling beneath a canopy of Cizannesque moss-draped oaks on one of Savannah's showplace boulevards. Frequently overlooked are the cabbage palms, planted before 1921, which line Gaston Street and Park Avenue, border streets to Forsyth Park.

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