Named for Sir Matthew Decker (1679 – 1749), who at the time of Georgia’s founding was a Director for the British East India Company, Decker Ward is one of the four original wards laid out by General James Edward Oglethrope, the colony’s founder. At the heart of the ward, Decker Square was laid out. The square’s name was changed to honor Sir Henry Ellis, the colony’s sixth royal governor sometime later.

Perhaps it’s not a coincidence that the square was renamed for Ellis as before he was appointed royal governor, he earned money as a slave trader. As the square was the location of the City Market and a place known for its trade in enslaved Africans. The exact date of the slave market here is unknown, though when General Sherman captured the city in December 1864, the market was still here. With the awful emotions experienced by the enslaved here, this may be Savannah’s most haunted square. Interestingly, reports of paranormal activity in this ward are only confined to a single building.

Sam Cooley’s photograph of the City Market in Ellis Square near the end of the Civil War in 1865. While the market building was demolished in 1954, the buildings in the background are still standing. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

In 1954, the square and the city market hall was sacrificed to America’s love affair with the automobile when it was demolished and replaced with a parking garage. It is this moment, accompanied by the planned or actual destruction of Savannah’s historical treasures, that spurred the community into preservation. The deep regret of having lost the original square, led the city to redeem itself with the restoration of the square shortly after its lease expired in 2004.

Sources

• Ellis Square (Savannah, Georgia). Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 7 September 2025.

B & D Burgers (209 West Congress Street) – This 19^th century commercial harbors spirits, and more than just those served with its gourmet burgers. This location has been covered in a separate entry.