Ardsley Park/Chatham Crescent (APCC) was founded in 1910 by Harry Latimore and Harvey Granger.  It was the first automobile suburb of Savannah, modeled after Gen. Oglethorpe’s ingenious city plan, but placing its 12 parks (roughly one acre each) to the side of the streets instead of in the middle. 

Ardsley Park-Chatham Crescent is a one square mile, highly intact residential area developed as two adjacent planned subdivisions. The plan of Ardsley Park, a regular grid with landscaped squares, is extremely important as it is a twentieth-century variant of Oglethorpe’s original city plan. Chatham Crescent is a rare example in Georgia of a Beaux Arts-influenced, “City Beautiful” type plan with a grand mall, crescent-shaped avenues, and small circular parks incorporated into a basic grid pattern. Immediately adjacent is Ardmore and Chatham Terrace, developed as a separate but related subdivisions that share a common developmental history and characteristics. The architectural styles in the district include textbook and local interpretations of almost every revival and eclectic style popular in the early twentieth century. They are predominantly one- and two-story, single family homes, many of which have free standing garages in the rear. Read more about the history of Ardsley Park and Chatham Crescent.

In the 1910 mayor’s annual report, the mayor referred to the work done on the wards owned by the Chatham Land & Hotel Company and the Ardsely Park Land Corporation practically completed, marking the “conclusion of one of the most important and most extensive developments of its kind ever undertaken by the city,”

These lovely planted spaces encourage gatherings of all kinds from birthday parties, to potlucks, musical events, and an annual holiday celebration with the lighting of a Christmas tree in Kavanaugh Park.

Chatham Crescent, between Habersham and Waters/Victory and East 51st, was designed by Henri Brignault, a student of Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris.

Three boulevards have elegant, planted medians: Victory Drive, Washington Avenue, and Abercorn Street.

The plan includes service lanes to “hide the ugly stuff,” such as garbage cans, garages, pick-up and delivery, and telephone poles. As a result, the street side of our homes looks much more attractive than areas without lanes.