Savannah Ghostwalker Tour and Ghost Hunt

Savannah Ghostwalker Tour and Ghost Hunt is a 90 minute night walk through the historic district, run by Savannah GhostWalker Tour and Ghost Hunt, from $35 per person at our July 30, 2026 check. It names six stops, five of them squares: Madison Square, Colonial Park Cemetery, Lafayette Square, Chippewa Square, Wright Square and Oglethorpe Square, more of the city's squares than any other Savannah listing we checked names. Groups cap at 16, the adult band starts at 16, and it is not wheelchair accessible. The catch: it is non-refundable, while every other bookable Savannah tour in our check flagged free cancellation. It suits walkers who want a compact square-to-square route and can commit to the date.

What you will see

Wright Square, laid out in 1733 as Percival Square and renamed about 1763 for the royal governor James Wright (Georgia Historical Society), carries the route's biggest correction. Guides sell it as the hanging square. Alice Riley, an Irish transported servant, was hanged in January 1735 with a fellow servant, Richard White, for murdering their master William Wise. Where she died is not recorded: the courthouse and log house were not sited in that ward until 1736, a year later (Jefferson Hall). The claim that Spanish moss will not grow here because of her curse fails on a municipal fact: the city cleared moss from all eleven squares north of Oglethorpe Avenue (Jefferson Hall). Tomochichi, the Yamacraw mico whose agreement let the colony exist, died on October 5, 1739 and was buried at the center of this square (Georgia Historical Society). The mound the railroad cleared in 1883 was ornamental earthwork the city built in 1871, not his grave (Jefferson Hall).

Colonial Park Cemetery is the only burial ground on the route. It was established around 1750, a traditional date rather than a documented one, and closed to burials on July 1, 1853 (Jefferson Hall). Union troops occupied Savannah on December 24, 1864, and several hundred soldiers camped here and sheltered in the vaults (Colonial Park Cemetery). Two standard tour lines do not survive checking. No mass grave of 700 yellow fever victims is established here, and the flourish about the real figure being 666 has no source at all. Nor was there a dueling ground on the south side: that land was the City Pound, an animal impound lot opened in April 1810. What is documented is bleaker. Registered Savannah deaths from 1803 to 1853 number 13,345, while fewer than 700 headstones survive.

Madison Square, laid out between 1837 and 1839, has documented violence: Sergeant William Jasper was mortally wounded just northwest of here on October 9, 1779, in the failed American and French assault on the British lines (Georgia Historical Society). His famous flag rescue belongs to Fort Sullivan near Charleston in 1776, not to Savannah; the fighting here is documented, the graves beneath the square are not. Sherman worked from the Green-Meldrim House on the west side from December 22, 1864 to February 1, 1865, not from the Marshall House that tours name (Green-Meldrim House). Lafayette Square carries the Andrew Low House at 329 Abercorn Street, built from 1847 to 1849 to designs by John S. Norris (Andrew Low House). Juliette Gordon Low died there on January 17, 1927 (Girl Scouts of the USA). It is not her birthplace, a separate museum at 10 East Oglethorpe Avenue that tours confuse with it.

Chippewa Square is the thinnest haunting on the circuit. Laid out in 1815 and named for the American soldiers at the Battle of Chippawa in July 1814, it is eighty years too young for the 1735 hanging some guides relocate here (Chippewa Square). Its monument to James Oglethorpe, dedicated in 1910, is a bronze by Daniel Chester French (James Oglethorpe Monument). It stands here rather than in Oglethorpe Square. There is no Forrest Gump bench either: it was a film prop, now at the Savannah History Museum. Oglethorpe Square, usually dated 1742 (Jefferson Hall), holds the Owens-Thomas House, completed in 1819 for Richard Richardson, a shipping merchant and domestic slave trader. Renovation in the 1990s uncovered the urban slave quarters behind it, with original haint blue ceiling paint, and Telfair now calls the site the Owens-Thomas House and Slave Quarters (Telfair Museums). Painting a ceiling blue to turn away spirits was the belief of the people held there.

Who it suits

Ninety minutes on foot at night, capped at 16, with the adult band starting at 16 and no child band on the listing we checked. The term to weigh hardest is the money: this booking is non-refundable, and the listing says plainly that you will not receive a refund if you cancel. Every other bookable Savannah listing in our check offered free cancellation.

• Skip it if your plans could change. The booking is non-refundable; the rest of the Savannah field is not.
• Skip it if anyone in your party is under 16, or needs wheelchair access.
• Skip it if you have back or heart problems, or are pregnant. The listing advises against it.
• Do not count on equipment. The listing itemizes none; handheld EMF readers turn up in guest reviews, not in what the operator promises.
• Confirm the meeting point and departure time when you book. Neither is published; the listing shows only that it runs at night.

How it compares

This listing competes on route rather than on price or length. At $35 it sits mid-band against the nine bookable Savannah from-prices we checked, which run from $30 to $42.80, and at 90 minutes it is one of four Savannah walks at that length. Its nearest rival on route is Genteel and Bard's Savannah Dark History and Ghost Encounter Walking Tour, also $35, which shares four of those squares plus Colonial Park Cemetery, runs twenty minutes longer, admits ages 13 and up, states wheelchair access and cancels free.

On volume, Savannah History and Haunts Candlelit Ghost Walking Tour carries the largest review count of the twelve Savannah listings we checked, 4.9 across 3,445, at $39 for the same 90 minutes, though it publishes no stop list. Savannah's Ghost City Dead of Night Walking Night Tour is $34.99 for 90 minutes with the same age floor of 16, and it overlaps here on Colonial Park Cemetery and Wright Square. This tour's 4.9 rests on 706 reviews, the smallest of the three Savannah 4.9s we found. For the wider field see Savannah ghost tours compared and our guide to the 12 spookiest Savannah ghost tours.

Questions people ask

How long is it and what does it cost?

Ninety minutes, from $35 per person at our July 30, 2026 check. Prices move, so confirm the rate on the booking page.

Can I cancel?

No. This listing is non-refundable and states that you will not receive a refund if you cancel. Every other bookable Savannah listing we checked flagged free cancellation.

Which stops does it name?

Six: Madison Square, Colonial Park Cemetery, Lafayette Square, Chippewa Square, Wright Square and Oglethorpe Square. Five of the six are squares, more than any other Savannah listing we checked.

Do you get ghost-hunting equipment?

The listing does not say. It itemizes no equipment, and handheld EMF readers appear in guest reviews rather than in the operator's own listing fields, so ask before booking.

Who should not take this tour?

The adult band starts at 16 with no child band, the listing states the tour is not wheelchair accessible, and it advises against it for travelers with back or heart problems and for pregnant travelers.

Was Alice Riley hanged in Wright Square?

The execution is documented, in January 1735, but its location is not. The courthouse and log house that would have anchored a place of execution were not sited in that ward until 1736, so the square's reputation is tradition rather than record.