Tomochichi Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, Savannah, GA

The Tomochichi Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Savannah, Georgia, was originally constructed to house the U.S. Post Office as well as the U.S. Courts, U.S. Engineers and the Weather Bureau. It was built on the site where John Wesley, founder of Methodism, preached in 1736 and 1737 in a courthouse erected by James Oglethorpe, founder of the colony of Georgia.

The post office had first been located in the U.S. Customs House. Post office functions then moved to the corner of Bay and Drayton Streets, and then to 25 Whitaker before the U. S. Courthouse was built. Work began in 1889 on a U.S. Post Office at the corner of York and Abercorn Streets, but the work was abandoned when Savannah citizens wanted a "more suitable" structure. This first site was in more of a residential neighborhood.

Congress was persuaded to appropriate additional funds and excavations were begun on June 14, 1894 for a new post office (the Federal Building which is the subject of this report). The new site was several blocks to the west, occupying the full block bounded by Bull (one of Savannah's main streets), York, Whitaker and President Streets. The building, designed in the Second Renaissance Revival style, was probably designed in 1893-1894 during the tenure of W.J. Edbrooke as Supervising Architect of the Treasury. The cornerstone lists Jeremiah O'Rourke as architect. Included in the ornate carving on the north and south elevations of the original building are two identical stone units at the springing point of the central 2nd floor windows. A sculptural face is carved into each of these stones. Local opinion holds that the likeness of the architect was the basis for these two sculptures. By July 30, 1899, all departments of the post office were in the new government building. A local newspaper called it "an ornament and a pride to the city."

The building was enlarged between 1930 and 1932. At that time, President Street was closed and the structure was extended to cover what had originally been two city blocks, with the extended site having its north frontage on State Street. Today the building serves as offices for various federal agencies, and as a District Court.

Savannah’s historic urban core was recognized in 1966 as a National Historic Landmark District. Its primary significance was based on the city’s distinctive plan which has survived and grown since it was established in 1733 by Governor James Edward Oglethorpe, the founder of the colony of Georgia. Based on the ward as the unit of social aggregation, Oglethorpe’s plan made use of public squares, boundary and axis streets, and lanes to create a highly efficient and attractive urban setting that could be easily defended. Downtown Savannah today has a chronology of more than 250 years of architectural styles superimposed upon the eighteenth century plan.

Savannah’s plan has several exceptional features that distinguish it from other settlements and which continue to allow the city to grow in an orderly and aesthetically pleasing manner. The basic units are the wards which were each named and organized as neighborhoods of equal size. Each ward includes a central public square, flanked by two trust lots to the east and two to the west. The importance of the trust lots to each square was consistently reinforced by the civic buildings which were placed in these premier locations. At the northern and southern sides of each ward are four tithing blocks (two on each side reserved for private ownership. The tithing’s originally had ten town lots each, making a total of forty town lots per ward available for houses. Each town lot faces north-south and was designed to be sixty feet wide and ninety feet deep. The grid of streets intersects at right angles with several widths depending on their intended use and importance. A single street enters the square in the middle of its north and south sides, and three streets enter the square from the east and west. The tithing blocks are each bisected by narrow east-west lanes.

Savannah’s character cannot de understood without comprehending the rationality of its spaces and the rhythmic placement of its buildings, streets, and open areas. Each square developed as a unique expression of its own ward and also as a part of a series of linked open spaces which provided physical relief in the hot, humid climate. Bull Street became an important north-south corridor connecting the seat of government to the series of squares which contained some of the most prominent monuments and works of public art. The plan combined visual diversity with organizational effectiveness.

Within the ward there is a hierarch of structures. Gateways to each square exist on the north-south and east-west axis streets, the streets which run to the centers of each square. Thus the buildings which front the squares on these axis streets are of greatest significance within the plan. These include the trust lot structures and the buildings on the north-south streets facing the square. The trust lot structures are the most significant, while those on the north-south axis street corners are the next most significant. These are followed in importance by the structures which are visible from the square on the tangential and axial streets respectively.

The Tomochichi Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse (FB-CT), opposite Wright Square, is in Percival Ward, one of the first four wards established. Not only is the plan, as a structure of city streets and open spaces, well preserved in this location, but this site is also in a remarkable intact state regarding the relationship of its structures. The trust lots on either side of Wright Square support monumental public buildings. The presence of both religious and civic architecture on these lots is in keeping with the intentions of Oglethorpe’s plan. The corner buildings on three of the four corners facing Wright Square are substantial structures with a prominence to the adjoining buildings on three blocks. In fact, the City Plan surrounding Wright Square has only been altered by the expansion of the Federal Courthouse and Post Office. When first built, the Federal building occupied one of the west trust lots and opened onto President Street. The building was enlarged in the 1930s to more than twice its original size and extended north to State Street. It now covers two trust lots and resulted in the loss of President Street between the west trust lots. This older façade is now on the interior of the “U” and is not visible from the street.

In 2004, the building was named after Tomochichi, a Native American who befriended Oglethorpe during the establishment of the City of Savannah. The English general, James Oglethorpe, first launched Savannah on the Savannah River in 1733. He founded the British colony there and he met Tomochichi as he came up the bluff at what is now the city of Savannah. Unlike the tragic history of conflict between settlers and Native Americans in other colonies, Tomochichi brought lifelong friendship to the infant colony, granting the settlers permission to peacefully settle in the Savannah region. Among Savannahians the hospitality that Tomochichi showed these young settlers is legendary. But Tomochichi's gifts to the State were just beginning.
Thanks to his diplomatic skills, this Yamacraw leader was instrumental in convincing the other Creek tribes in the immediate vicinity to accept the fledgling colony of Georgia. Without his political leadership, Georgia may well have perished in its infancy, with a hostile Spanish administration in what is now Florida, intent on turning Native Americans against English settlers.

Tomochichi and his family then traveled to England where they met with the King and the Archbishop of Canterbury. Upon his return to Georgia, Tomochichi successfully lobbied his new neighbors to establish the first missionary school among the Lower Creeks, recognizing that education was the key to the future as these two cultures became intertwined.

Tomochichi passed away at around 93 years of age on October 5, 1739, at what we used to call the Yamacraw Indian Village, just upstream from Savannah. But before he died, he requested that his body be buried in Savannah among his new friends. He was buried with full military honors in the largest public ceremony of the day, with cannons firing a final salute and his old friend General Oglethorpe serving as a pallbearer. His body was laid to rest in the center of the city's main square at the time, later to be named Wright Square, with a traditional Indian burial mound atop his grave. A century and a half later in the 1880s, some shortsighted city officials allowed the mound to be removed and another statue placed on the site. Admirers of the great chieftain responded by placing an inscribed granite boulder in honor of Tomochichi a few feet from his remains.

The current memorial to Tomochichi consists of a rough granite fragment displaying an inscriptional bronze plaque. It was erected in 1899 by the Georgia Society of Colonial Dames of America. The inscription reads: "In memory of Tom-o-chi-chi. The mico of the Yamacraws, The Companion of Oglethorpe, and the Friend and Ally of the Colony of Georgia." It is possible this is the only memorial erected for a Native American by descendants of European settlers.

The Tomochichi Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse makes a visual contribution to the city even though it is of a later period than historic Savannah; it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse was individually listed on the National Register on June 4, 1974 and is a contributing property to Savannah's National Historic Landmark District whose period of significance extends through 1934. This designation places the area on the National Register with a national level of significance. The nomination lists the period of significance as the 19th and 20th centuries, with specific periods 1875-1899, and significant years: 1883, 1899 (completed), and 1932 (addition completed).