Situated on a section of land that was once known as Trustees Garden, this ten acre plot was set aside during the founding of the city of Savannah in 1733 as a botanical garden to see what would actually grow in the new colony of Georgia. High hopes were shattered when the much desired mulberry trees which produced the coveted silk worm failed due to poor soil and unsuitable climate. However one crop would flourish...the peach tree. One room in The Pirates' House complex, known as the "herb room", dates back to 1734 making it the oldest building in Georgia. It was used as the gardener's cottage. Today it is a quaint dining room in which patrons can experience the architecture and feel of early 18th century Savannah.
In 1754 the city of Savannah no longer needed an experimental garden. Located just eighteen miles from the Atlantic, Savannah was beginning to thrive as a port town. What it needed was an inn and tavern to accommodate the many seafarers who required lodging. As Savannah was attracting an increasing number of merchant vessels, so would she attract seafarers of a more questionable nature--pirates who could hardly resist the lure of this south Georgia port. The marshes and tributaries about Savannah provided these scalawags with sufficient routes by which to navigate their ships containing stolen goods. Savannah would in fact become a haven for pirates. The Pirates' House would become their chief lodging place. Serving as a brothel as well as an inn and tavern, this rowdy hang-out on the bluff above the Savannah river would witness countless ill-doings, including the occasional shanghaiing of some unsuspecting visitor. It is rumored that there is a tunnel that runs from the old rum cellar beneath The Pirate's House out to the Savannah river. Many an innocent patron would experience the false hospitality of a cunning pirate. After enjoying an evening's rum, on the house of course, the poor fellow would wake up the next morning miles out to sea headed for some distant port. He had been kidnapped into slavery aboard a pirate ship, never to been seen again.
Savannah Georgia is certainly no stranger to legend and lore. Many a writer and artist have been inspired by her timeless charm. One such writer, Robert Louis Stevenson, would mention Savannah quite prominently in his famous novel Treasure Island. A swashbuckling tale of pirate adventure. In Stevenson's classic the famed and feared Captain Flint would die in the second floor bedroom of a tavern widely believed to be The Pirates' House.
Many people passing by the candlelit windows of The Pirates' House will feel the urge to snap a picture of this early colonial building. In doing so many have captured the image of a pirate, or even a barmaid, staring back at them from beyond the grave. Perhaps at The Pirates' House there's "still room at the inn" for these scrupulous visitors.
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