Historic District, Savannah: homes, schools, parks and commute

Last checked Oct. 6, 2026. Sources: the City of Savannah’s neighborhood boundaries and neighborhood association list on SAGIS, the school system’s address lookup, the state’s 2025 School Grades data, Chatham County’s 2025 parcel digest, Zillow Research, Chatham Area Transit and OpenStreetMap.

The Historic District is the oldest part of Savannah: the grid of squares laid out from the Savannah River south to Forsyth Park. On the city’s own neighborhood map it is two neighborhoods, the North Historic District and the South Historic District, about 0.8 square miles together. Homes here are townhouses, row houses, carriage houses and condominiums in older buildings, mixed in with offices, shops, churches and hotels.

What this means for you

• Zoned high school: the School of Liberal Studies at Savannah High for 82% of the homes we checked; Groves High for the rest, in the north end. Check one address in the district’s lookup.
• Home value: $556,330 in ZIP 31401 in August 2026, according to the Zillow Home Value Index.
• Nearest interstate exit: I-16 exit 167A, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Montgomery Street, at the downtown end of I-16.

Part of our Savannah neighborhoods guide. For the squares, River Street, museums and parking, see our Historic District guide.

Where it is

The two city neighborhoods run from Bay Street and River Street on the river south to about Gwinnett Street, and take in Forsyth Park. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard runs along the west side. The streets with the most addresses in the county’s 2025 parcel records are Liberty, Broughton, Jones and State streets, with Abercorn, Whitaker, Barnard, Bull and Habersham streets running north to south.

• ZIP code: 31401 for every home in the county’s records.
• Inside city limits: yes, so the city provides police, fire and trash service.
• Neighborhood association: the city’s list names the Downtown Neighborhood Association for both halves.

Homes

The county’s 2025 parcel digest lists 2,922 parcels here, 1,977 of them residential. Many of those are individual condominium units.

• Half of the residential parcels list a year built of 1900 or earlier.
• 69% were built before 1940.
• 17% date from 2000 or later.

Schools

We ran 80 homes chosen at random from the county’s parcel records through the school system’s address lookup on Oct. 6. The district says that lookup is based on each child’s zone school. Scores are 2025 College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) figures from the state’s School Grades report.

Homes zoned for Andrea B. Williams are also zoned for the Henderson E. Formey Early Learning Center, 400 E. Broad St. In the state’s 2025 data, Formey served pre-K and kindergarten and Williams grades 1 to 5. The homes zoned for Groves, Mercer and Brock were in the north end of the district, around Broughton, Bryan and Liberty streets. More in our schools guide.

Home values

The typical home value in ZIP 31401 was $556,330 in August 2026, down 3.30% from $575,317 in August 2025, according to the Zillow Home Value Index. The index is a modeled typical value for the middle third of homes, not a sale price. ZIP 31401 also covers the Victorian District and Thomas Square. The citywide Savannah figure was $322,239, down 2.82% on the year. More in our home prices guide.

Parks and squares

The city-owned squares are the area’s parks. The SAGIS parks layer lists, among others, Johnson, Wright, Chippewa, Madison, Monterey, Lafayette and Chatham squares, plus:

• Forsyth Park, 621 Drayton St., at the south end.
• Ellis Square, 200 W. Congress St.
• Emmet Park, 426 E. Bay St., along the bluff.
• Morrell Park, on River Street.

More in our parks and trails guide.

Getting around

• Interstate: I-16 ends downtown. Exit 167A, signed for Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Montgomery Street and the Civic Center in OpenStreetMap, is the nearest exit, about 0.6 miles from the middle of the district in a straight line. Exit 165 serves 37th Street.
• City Hall: about 0.6 miles by road to 2 E. Bay St.
• Airport: about 11 miles by road to the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport terminal. Both are distances measured on the OpenStreetMap road network with the OSRM routing engine, not drive times.
• CAT buses: routes 3, 3B, 4, 7D-C, 10, 11, 12, 14, 17, 25, 27, 28 and 31 stop in or next to the district, according to Chatham Area Transit’s stop data. Times are on CAT’s schedules page.

More in our walking and biking trails guide.

Groceries and everyday stores

From OpenStreetMap:

• CVS Pharmacy, 119 Bull St., inside the district
• Kroger, 311 E. Gwinnett St., just across Gwinnett Street in the Victorian District

How we drew this area

The edges are the City of Savannah’s own boundaries for its North Historic District and South Historic District neighborhoods, from the layer its Development Services Department keeps on SAGIS. School shares come from 80 randomly chosen homes run through the district’s lookup on Oct. 6, 2026; the lookup and the school system are the authority for any one address. Home counts and years built are from the county’s 2025 parcel digest. Store locations are © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Savannah Historic District a good place to live?

Here are the facts. It is the city’s North and South Historic District neighborhoods, all in ZIP 31401, with the downtown squares and Forsyth Park. Most homes are zoned for the School of Liberal Studies at Savannah High, which scored 53.9 on the state’s 2025 CCRPI, and Zillow put the typical value in 31401 at $556,330 in August 2026.

What high school is downtown Savannah zoned for?

The School of Liberal Studies at Savannah High for 82% of the homes we checked in the district’s address lookup on Oct. 6, 2026. The rest, in the north end around Broughton and Liberty streets, were zoned for Groves High.

How old are the homes in Savannah’s Historic District?

Half of the residential parcels in Chatham County’s 2025 parcel records list a year built of 1900 or earlier, and 69% were built before 1940. About 17% date from 2000 or later.

What ZIP code is the Savannah Historic District?

31401. Every home in the county’s parcel records for the city’s North and South Historic District neighborhoods has a 31401 address.