Walking past a weathered three-story building on Bull Street, you might notice the faded sign advertising “rooms by the week.” This isn’t just another old house – it’s a boarding house that once sheltered Irish immigrants, traveling salesmen, and young women seeking their fortunes in Savannah. These boarding houses scattered throughout the Historic District tell stories that traditional tourist attractions often miss. Self-guided tours let you pause at these quiet monuments to everyday life, discovering the intimate human dramas that unfolded behind their brick facades.
Savannah’s boarding houses served as temporary homes for people in transition. Unlike grand mansions that housed the wealthy, these buildings welcomed the striving middle class, recent immigrants, and anyone needing affordable lodging in a growing port city. They represent a different side of Savannah’s story – one of ambition, survival, and community among strangers.
The Rise of Boarding Houses in Savannah’s Self-Guided History
During the mid-1800s, Savannah’s cotton trade brought unprecedented prosperity and population growth. The city needed housing for clerks, dock workers, seamstresses, and the countless people drawn by economic opportunity. Hotels were expensive. Private homes weren’t available to rent. Boarding houses filled this gap perfectly.
These establishments typically operated in converted private residences or purpose-built structures. A boarding house keeper – often a widow seeking income – would rent furnished rooms and provide meals in a communal dining room. Residents shared common spaces but maintained privacy in their individual rooms. It was an arrangement that worked for both parties: property owners earned steady income, while boarders gained affordable housing with built-in social connections.
The 1860 census reveals just how common this living arrangement had become. Nearly one in four Savannah residents lived in boarding houses or took in boarders themselves. Bull Street, Abercorn Street, and the squares near the commercial district housed dozens of these establishments.
Who Lived in Savannah’s Boarding Houses?
The residents were remarkably diverse. Ship captains stayed between voyages. Young clerks saved money while establishing their careers. Irish and German immigrants found temporary shelter while searching for permanent housing. Single women worked as seamstresses, teachers, or shop assistants – occupations that provided independence but modest wages.
Census records from the 1850s and 1860s paint vivid pictures of these mini-communities. At 14 West Jones Street, Margaret O’Sullivan ran a boarding house that housed a ship’s carpenter from Maine, two Irish seamstresses, a bookkeeper from Charleston, and a music teacher from Germany. These temporary neighbors shared meals, news, and social connections that often lasted beyond their boarding house days.
Notable Historic Boarding Houses on GPS Audio Tours
Several of Savannah’s most interesting boarding houses still stand today, their stories waiting for curious visitors to discover them. Self-guided walking tours allow you to explore these buildings at your own pace, learning about the people who lived and worked within their walls.
The Pulaski House
Located on Bull Street near Johnson Square, the Pulaski House operated as one of Savannah’s most respectable boarding establishments from the 1840s through the 1880s. Unlike smaller boarding houses that catered to working-class residents, the Pulaski House attracted middle-class professionals and their families.
The building’s three stories accommodated up to forty residents at its peak. The first floor featured a large dining room, parlor, and the proprietor’s quarters. The second and third floors contained individual rooms, many with fireplaces and large windows overlooking the square. Archaeological evidence suggests the building included servant quarters and a large kitchen in the rear, typical of establishments serving this many people daily.
What made the Pulaski House special was its role during the Civil War. While many boarding houses struggled during the conflict, this establishment housed Union officers during the occupation of Savannah. Letters from residents describe the awkward dinner conversations between Northern officers and Southern civilians who had nowhere else to go.
Mrs. Kehoe’s House
The elegant Italianate mansion at 123 Habersham Street tells a different boarding house story. Built in the 1840s for the Kehoe family’s iron foundry fortune, it became a boarding house after William Kehoe’s death in 1896. His widow, Anne Kehoe, needed income to maintain the large property and support her family.
Rather than sell their family home, the Kehoes converted it into an upscale boarding house that attracted Savannah’s elite visitors and long-term residents of refined tastes. The house maintained its elegant furnishings and formal atmosphere while generating necessary income for the family.
Guests remember elaborate meals served in the formal dining room, evening entertainment in the double parlors, and the strict house rules that maintained the establishment’s reputation. Mrs. Kehoe required references from potential boarders and maintained a waiting list of approved applicants.
The Working Women’s Boarding Houses
Several smaller boarding houses specifically catered to single working women – a growing population in post-Civil War Savannah. These establishments offered safety, respectability, and community for women earning their own living in an era when such independence was unusual.
The house at 17 East Jones Street operated as such an establishment from the 1870s through the 1890s. Run by Sarah Mitchell, a Confederate widow, it housed up to twelve young women working as seamstresses, milliners, shop clerks, and teachers. The house rules were strict: no male visitors upstairs, dinner served promptly at six, and church attendance expected on Sundays.
Diary entries from former residents describe the friendships formed in these houses. Women shared clothing, helped each other find employment, and created support networks that lasted throughout their lives. Many met their future husbands through introductions arranged by their boarding house “sisters.”
Daily Life in Savannah’s Historic Boarding Houses
Understanding what daily life was like in these establishments helps bring their stories alive during self-guided tours. The rhythm of boarding house life followed predictable patterns that created community among temporary residents.
Morning Routines and Shared Spaces
Most boarding houses served breakfast in a common dining room between seven and eight in the morning. Residents gathered around long tables, sharing newspapers and discussing the day’s plans. This meal was typically included in the weekly rent, along with dinner. Lunch was usually the resident’s responsibility.
After breakfast, the boarding house transformed as residents left for work. The proprietor and any household staff cleaned common areas, prepared for the evening meal, and managed the business of running the establishment. Many boarding house keepers also took in laundry or sewing to supplement their income.
Evening brought residents back together. Dinner was a social event where strangers became friends and news was shared. Afterward, residents might gather in the parlor for music, reading, or conversation. Some boarding houses organized group activities like charades or sing-alongs.
Rules and Social Expectations
Every boarding house had rules designed to maintain respectability and order. Common regulations included quiet hours after ten PM, no alcohol in rooms, and advance notice before leaving for extended periods. Many houses required payment in advance and references from previous landlords.
Social expectations were equally important though rarely written down. Residents were expected to dress appropriately for meals, contribute to conversation without dominating it, and help newcomers feel welcome. Those who violated these unwritten codes often found themselves unwelcome.
The boarding house system worked because it balanced privacy with community. Residents had their own space but weren’t isolated. They could save money on housing and meals while building social connections in a new city.
The Decline and Transformation of Boarding Houses
By the early 1900s, boarding houses began declining in popularity. Several factors contributed to this change, and their stories illustrate broader social and economic shifts in American life.
Changing Housing Patterns
The rise of apartment buildings offered similar affordability with more privacy. Young people increasingly preferred their own kitchens and living spaces to the communal arrangements of boarding houses. Improved transportation also allowed people to live further from city centers while still working downtown.
Automobile ownership, though still limited, began changing how people thought about housing location. Workers no longer needed to live within walking distance of their jobs. This flexibility reduced demand for the centrally located boarding houses that had been so convenient in earlier decades.
Social attitudes shifted as well. The communal dining and supervised socializing that once seemed beneficial began feeling restrictive to a generation that valued individual freedom over community support.
Economic Pressures
Operating a boarding house required significant labor and management skills. As wages increased for domestic work, many proprietors found it harder to maintain the staff needed to serve meals and clean common areas. The economics that once made boarding houses profitable became more challenging.
Property values in downtown Savannah also rose, making it more profitable for owners to sell their buildings than continue operating boarding houses. Many former boarding houses were converted to apartments, offices, or single-family homes during the 1910s and 1920s.
Finding Boarding House Stories Through Self-Guided Tours
Today’s visitors can discover these boarding house stories through GPS audio tours that bring historical context to surviving buildings. Walking these streets with historical perspective transforms ordinary-looking houses into windows to the past.
What to Look For During Your Walk
Several architectural clues indicate former boarding houses. Look for buildings with multiple chimneys, suggesting individual fireplaces in numerous rooms. Large front doors with substantial hardware indicate buildings designed for frequent comings and goings. Side entrances sometimes served as separate access to upper floors.
Windows offer another clue. Boarding houses often had more windows per floor than typical residences, providing natural light to smaller individual rooms. Bay windows on multiple floors sometimes indicate rooms that were divided from larger original spaces.
Pay attention to building size and location too. Most boarding houses stood three or four stories tall and were located near commercial areas or transportation hubs. They needed to be convenient for working residents while maintaining respectable addresses.
Connecting Past and Present
Many former boarding houses now serve new purposes while retaining their historical character. Some operate as inns or bed-and-breakfasts, continuing their tradition of welcoming travelers. Others house offices, apartments, or restaurants. A few remain private residences.
Understanding their boarding house history adds depth to experiencing these buildings today. That elegant restaurant was once a dining room where strangers became friends over shared meals. The office building once housed young women pursuing independence in an era when such choices were revolutionary.
The Human Stories Behind the Buildings
What makes boarding house history compelling isn’t the buildings themselves but the human dramas that unfolded within them. These were places where people reinvented themselves, formed unexpected friendships, and navigated the challenges of life in a growing city.
Stories of Reinvention
Boarding houses offered anonymity that allowed people to recreate themselves. A failed merchant from Charleston could arrive in Savannah and present himself as a successful businessman while quietly rebuilding his fortune. A young woman escaping family scandal could establish a respectable new identity through careful behavior and community connections.
The temporary nature of boarding house living meant residents could experiment with new versions of themselves. If things didn’t work out, they could simply move to another boarding house or another city. This flexibility attracted ambitious people willing to take risks for better opportunities.
Unlikely Friendships and Romances
The mixing of different backgrounds in boarding house dining rooms and parlors created relationships that wouldn’t have formed otherwise. A German immigrant might befriend a plantation overseer’s daughter. A ship captain’s widow could develop a friendship with a young teacher from Boston.
These relationships sometimes led to romance and marriage, but more often they provided the support networks that helped newcomers establish themselves in Savannah. Former boarding house friends helped each other find better jobs, provided references for housing, and maintained connections that lasted decades.
Exploring Boarding House History Today
The best way to experience Savannah’s boarding house history is through walking tours that let you pause at significant buildings while learning their stories. Self-guided GPS audio tours provide the flexibility to spend as much time as you want at each location while providing historical context that brings the past alive.
These tours work particularly well for boarding house history because the stories are intimate and personal rather than dramatic and public. You need time to absorb the human details that make these places meaningful. Rushing past with a large group misses the quiet moments when you can imagine the daily rhythms of boarding house life.
Start your exploration in the squares between Bay Street and Gaston Street, where most boarding houses were concentrated. Pay attention to buildings that seem slightly too large for single-family homes but not quite grand enough for mansions. These middle-ground structures often housed the middle-class residents who made boarding houses their temporary homes.
As you walk, consider the practical decisions that shaped boarding house life. Why did this location work for working people? How did residents get to their jobs? What amenities were within walking distance? Understanding these practical considerations helps explain why boarding houses succeeded in some areas and not others.
The boarding houses of historic Savannah remind us that the past was filled with ordinary people making extraordinary efforts to build better lives. Their stories deserve remembering, and self-guided audio tours on Destination Footsteps offer the perfect way to discover these hidden histories at your own pace, pausing wherever curiosity leads you to explore the human stories behind Savannah’s historic facades.