Pieces of history are always fascinating especially when it is something tangible. One of the best places to take a walk in time and absorb the past is a cemetery. The older the cemetery, the more fascinating the walk. One reason is that a walk in a cemetery reminds us of our own mortality and the graves are graves of real people who lived in times past. A walk through an old house or an ancient city is quite enjoyable. However, a walk through a cemetery is somehow more personal, and though cemeteries are filled with the remnants of the dead, it can bring history alive.
An old city like Savannah is rich in history and culture, and it is not exempt from its own historic cemeteries. Bonaventure Cemetery is the oldest and most 
A Beautiful Bonaventure Monument
beautiful of them all. It is filled with rich architectural monuments, history of those who help build Savannah and is planted among some of the most majestic Southern Oaks you will find anywhere. Located in Thunderbolt at 330 Bonaventure Dr., Bonaventure Cemetery is situated on a bluff overlooking the Wilmington River with breathtaking views. As a result, it is one of the most visited cemeteries in the United States a
According to the history books, Bonaventure served as the Tattnall family burial ground since 1794 and formed part of the Tattnall Plantation. Savannah businessman Peter Wiltberger bought 70 acres from Joseph Tattnall III as a public cemetery in 1847, and the plots were designed around the old plantation house and the oak lined roadways. In 1907, the City of Savannah purchased the property and continues to be owned by the city today. Peter Wiltberger was himself buried in the cemetery only 1 year later in 1848 beside his already deceased wife.
Among those buried in Bonaventure are Little Gracie Watson, Alexander Robert Lawton and his daughter Corinne, Conrad Potter Aiken and his wife Mary, Johnny and Ginger Mercer, Claudius Charles Wilson, Josiah Tattnall and Henry Rootes Jackson. There is also a large Jewish section of the cemetery and a small wooden synagogue. As you stroll through this section you can see gravestones with Hebrew symbols and writing and occasionally the Tetragramaton, 4 Hebrew letters that represent the name of God, often pronounced Yahweh or Jehovah in English.
While some companies charge for tours of Bonaventure, upwards of $26.00, it is open to the public from 8 pm to 5 pm daily and there is no charge for entrance so you can take your own tour for FREE. Just respect the beauty of the architecture by not destroying, defacing or polluting any aspect of the cemetery. Why not take a stroll, a drive and spend time with your family and those of the past? Spend the day relaxed among a beautiful historic setting on link any other. Why not have an adventure in Bonaventure!
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