The amazing thing is, if you go to Bull Street today, in 2012, it will still look very similar to the image in the photo. There will be a whole lot more traffic, but it would all basically look the same.

     Lay you 10-1 that in these two groups is a local bookie and a couple of ne'er-do-well sporting men putting a golden eagle on a bob-tailed nag while someone else was putting a few Morgan dollars on the grey. Oh, de doo-da day

Photo is from the top of City Hall (tallest building in the city). Lower left is the Custom's House. Directly behind at the Tobacconist sign is the old Confederate Navy Offices directly across Bull Street from the Telegraph office. You can see the spires of the (I think) the Oglethorpe House Hotel where Robert E. Lee and other Confederate dignitaries stayed while in Savannah. Interesting photo. Many of these parks are still there. Notice the cupola on the building on the left above the Telegraph Office. From that position observers could see ships arriving on the Savannah River and send telegraphs to the owners/receivers.

Savannah was laid out on a grid by J. E. Oglethorpe is 1733 and still retains the original design in the Historic District.

You simply cannot cut through the historic district quickly. It' can be a little frustrating if you are in a hurry. Lesson here is: don't be in a hurry.

Yes, the tree growth is startling. I believe this photo was taken from the upper floors of City Hall on Bay St. Looking at GoogleMaps, the first building on the left, the U.S. Customs House, and the first building on the right still appear the same today.

The sawhorse sitting on the roof of the building at extreme right seemed out of place until I noticed the objects sitting along the crosspiece which seem to be insulators. If you look carefully you can see wires coming up from the left so it must have been used to pass the them along to a hopefully more solid termination. I wonder if they even bothered to nail it to the roof?

Each of the spires, steeples, and towers visible in this photograph is still standing, as are a number of the other buildings. Fortunately for the city, but unfortunately for Google Street View tourists, so are most of the trees, which have grown so thick that it's hard to see much of the architecture from ground-level. That, coupled with the position of the sun when Google's van made its appointed rounds, makes the Street View tour somewhat disappointing. If you're game to go looking, though, there are a few treasures to be found. The original photograph was apparently taken from about 30 feet off the ground at the south end of Johnson Square; you can start your tour about 30 feet below that by clicking here. (If you find Bing's "bird's eye" view to be more to your liking, start here instead.)

I believe this is the first segmented street I have seen.