|
LOCATION:
The Pirate's House can be found
1 block from the Savannah River on East Broad Street, in the area of the city
called Old Fort.
Address: 20 East Broad Street, Savannah, GA 31401.
(912) 233-5757 * Lunch available for private parties.
House Hours of Operation---Lunch
Menu 11:30 am-3:00 pm, Southern Style Buffet: 11:30 am-6:00 pm
Tom and I
ate here and loved the buffet! Terrific food and great beer.
DESCRIPTION:
/ HISTORY:
This 1753 house and tavern is the oldest building in Savannah.
Though it has been modernized to meet the modern kitchen and restaurant standards,
it still has the feel of an 1800's eatery and tavern. It's authentic restoration
efforts throughout the years has earned it the approval of the American Museum
Society, which lists it as a "House Museum"
Sometime during its
long history, the Herb House and perhaps another small building were added onto
the original tavern and house. There are currently 15 different separate dining
rooms on the first floor.
The first floor of this brick and wood structure
was the tavern, a place for eating and drinking. The second floor was the inn
where men spent the night. There is a stairway which leads down to the first floor
tavern and restaurant. For many years during the 20th century, a jazz bar called
Hard Hearted Hannah's made its home in the upstairs rooms in this restaurant,
probably starting in the 1920's. Today, just the first floor is used by the public.
The upstairs area is used for storage, and is the main stomping grounds of the
restaurant's long time entity residents.
In the basement, there was a brick
tunnel which is big enough to drive a bus through which ran underground to the
sea front. It is now bricked over at both ends.
While pirates were a menace
from 1680 - 1730 in the colonial mostly southern coastal areas, The Pirates' House
should be called, "The Privateers' House," because when the building
was constructed, pirates had been either hunted down or chased out of the area
by the British Navy. The Pirates wisely moved their operations to less civilized
waters around India and less traveled areas of the Pacific Ocean.
The Pirates'
House first opened in 1753, as an inn and tavern for the merchant marines, sailors
and for the less than stellar Savannah citizens, English and French privateers,
who were worse than pirates. Privateers, with the blessings of the English government,
would raid enemy shipping, kill the crew and sell the ship, and give a portion
of what was taken to the British government.
French Privateer, Jean Lafitte
had such a deal with the British, and was often at this tavern and inn. Others
like him stayed here between their ship hunting activities, enjoying the food,
the drink and conducting the business of reluctant crew recruitment and other
business dealings. He did so well that he had a home in New Orleans and visited
his friend at Destrehan Manor.
Robert Louis Stevenson is said to have been
inspired by this house, and wrote a segment of his novel, Treasure Island in 1881
basing some of the characters on the privateers' less than stellar ways of life.
Captain Flint was a fictional character in the book, but was probably based on
a typical lowlife charmer who ran his business there in between the kill and blunder
voyages.
HISTORY OF MANIFESTATIONS:
Possible
Candidates:
Both English and French privateers, violent men,
felt they were above the law.
Feeling their power, they
also preyed on other sailors and the citizens of Savannah, who suffered from the
wicked ways of their trade; kidnap and murder. It goes to reason that Privateer
Captains may have had trouble getting a crew together because of their line of
work, so the practice of "crew impressment" was commonly done in the
1800's. They would get other seafaring men drunk at the tavern, or drug them or
even bop them over the head, with an ulterior motive in mind. The basement tunnel
was used to transport these shanghaied men to waiting seafaring privateer ships
in need of sailors, who were forced to join this violent seafaring job.
A
Savannah policeman suffered such a fate, and it took two years to return home
to Savannah.
Both sailors and privateers hung
out at this establishment for many years throughout the 17th and early years of
the 19th century.
It is quite possible that some privateers
/ sailors died in the upper floor bedrooms from alcohol poisoning, or from other
hazards of their trade. Perhaps some also died on the first floor as well.
By
1811, the practice of crew impressment was outlawed and a punishable offense,
but privateer ships still came to Savannah to rest, regroup and legitimately recruit
young men to join them, though they were resented by many people of Savannah because
of the past criminal offenses the privateers used to get away with in the past.
The French privateers from privateer schooners, LaVengeance, and LaFrancise came
to port, on their way to rob and pilfer in South America. While they came to rest
and prepare, they also came to refit and recruit new crew members, which angered
the American sailors and Savannah citizens. These circumstances started a series
of disturbances between the two groups, which eventually escalated into the total
destruction of both the French ships.
A group of 6 American
seamen were attacked by knife wielding French Privateers in a upper Savannah tavern
and whore house, which could've been this building, or one close to it.
Sailors
who died: One victim was an American sailor, eighteen-year-old second mate Jacob
Taylor, of the brig Betty out of Philadelphia. His shipmate, John Collins also
died. French privateer, Pierre Scipion, 23, also died of his wounds.
MANIFESTATIONS:
The
upstairs area is apparition central.
Laughter has been heard coming
from the 2nd floor.
Employees have experienced seeing fleeting apparitions
of entities out of the corner of the eye.
When the upstairs area was used
as a jazz club, the coffee pot in the preparation area was known to throw itself
against the wall.
An entity of a scar-faced, apparition of a rough privateer,
who was a bit of a party animal in life, called Captain Flint by the living has
made himself at home on the second floor and the basement.
His
apparition has been seen upstairs in the rooms, and roaming around the basement
area, near the walled-off tunnel.
The First floor has its
own ghost.
A strong unseen presence has been felt on
the stairs between the first and second floor.
An apparition of a
surly male apparition, dressed like a 18th or early 19th century sea man has been
seen.
This bullying presence has walked through the kitchen
and gave a menacingly glare to the cook before strolling out.
In
one of the dining rooms, the chairs and place settings are always rearranged during
the night after the restaurant closes for the evening.
Some
entities most get together to talk about old times. Perhaps the sailors killed
in the brawl mentioned above chose this place to haunt because of all the good
times they had here, even if they were killed somewhere else.
The
Basement Area Manifestations:
A present day Savannah policeman
went down to the basement out of curiosity. He witnessed apparitions of men carrying
a very drunk apparition through the basement area, right past the blocked up wall.
Perhaps some entities are looking for justice and told their tale in front of
a policeman.
A waitress, went down to the restaurant's basement to check
it out. She became very dizzy and felt very sick to her stomach, so she quickly
went back up the stairs. Whenever she went in to work, she again felt sick. She
got the message that the entities in the house were punishing her for entering
the tunnel area, so she quit.
PSYCHIC
RESEARCH:
The Paranormal Ghost Hunters of North
Georgia investigated the Pirate's House, during a Ghoststock event. One investigator
felt something trying to take his flashlight out of his pocket. When the investigator
held the flashlight in his hand, his hand became colder and colder until he had
to drop it on the floor! Some bullying presence was determined to get his way!!
http://www.ghosthounds.com/ftopict-2541.html
Spirit
Investigations has done a formal investigation with equipment and cameras. It
should be interesting to see their report.
http://www.spiritinvestigations.net
The
pilot episode of Turner South's new series "Haunted South" was shot at the Pirate's
House Restaurant in Savannah Georgia.
STILL HAUNTED?
Yes Indeed!
This building was a favorite spot
for sailors and privateers for many years. The beer and food was terrific as it
is now. It is no wonder they hang around a place which they so enjoyed while alive.
SOURCES INCLUDE: hsgng.org * thepirateshouse.com * askyewolfe.com * ghosthounds.com
HAUNTED
SAVANNAH: The Official guidebook to Savannah Haunted History tour,
By James Caskey
HAUNTED PLACES: the National Directory,
by Dennis William Hauk
|
