Saturday, May 25, 2024

"Haunted Savannah" by James Caskey

I picked up a COUPLE of copies of "Haunted Savannah" by James Caskey on previous trips to the great southern town and I have had them on my book shelf for some time.  I think I have flipped through the copies a few times here and there, but I sort of dismissed this volume.

I THINK the fact that I bought 2 copies, each with a different year printed on the cover, expecting different/updated info put me off.  The book, no matter the year printed on the cover, has the exact same info as other editions.

Nevermind that though.  I recently went ahead and read a copy, cover to cover and I was wrong to think of this book as just an OK reference for the city.  The book is PACKED!

Caskey covers a lot of history in a tight, easy to read 200 pages.  Yeah, there are ghost stories, but something I really like is the dark history.  Caskey has not gone to psychics asking about their impressions, he has researched and he gives you the disturbing facts.

Many historic legends are brought up, with their connections to the city- some names you would expect- Jim Williams, Uncle Remus, Juliette Gordon Low, and of course, Sherman.  There are other characters that pop up too, including a 7 foot tall giant, President Monroe, and Joe Namath.

AND he gives a ton of historic and strange information about the city, its buildings, and its involvement in battles and other incidents.  You will look forward to your next trip to Savannah knowing that some of the places in town are former cotton warehouses relating to the Civil War.  There are Civil War hospitals, a building built of old ships, etc.  There are stories of 1,000 person mass grave (its location- lost to history), soldiers buried alive, and a dead man found walled up.  This book is thorough and complete.  Pick up a copy before your next trip.  It gets my highest possible recommendation.
 

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