History

Baldwin Park, established in 1910, was originally the northern portion of the Chatham Crescent neighborhood. It is bound on the north by East 40th St, on the west by Price St and on the east by Waters Avenue. Its southern border is U.S. Highway 80, also known as Victory Drive. Victory Drive was formerly known as Estill Avenue (more on Victory Drive's history below).

Much of the home construction style in Baldwin Park is Victorian and Craftsman.

Today, Baldwin Park has an active Neighborhood Association and enjoys many activities centered around their circular Park named for one of the city Aldermen who was in office when Chatham Crescent was dedicated.

Victory Drive History (from Victory Drive Historic Corridor Study)

Victory Drive was once a series of unpaved roads that connected the western edge of Savannah to the small fishing village, originally the Town of Warsaw (1856-1921), which is now the Town of Thunderbolt.

The westernmost segment of Victory was 43rd Street, at one point also known as King Street. This portion of Victory served as an extension of Estill Avenue (modern day between Bull Street and Waters Avenue) to the western city limits and the modern day Ogeechee Road intersection.

Originally, 43rd Street was offset a block north from Estill Avenue, creating a sharp turn that connected the two sections of the road. 43rd Street, Estill Avenue, and Dale Avenue (modern day between Waters Avenue and city limits) made up the earliest version of what is now Victory Drive. Dale Avenue was Estill Avenue’s extension that continued eastward from Waters Avenue to the eastern city limits of Savannah, and served as the connection from Waters Avenue to the Town of Thunderbolt. In the early 20th Century, the road passing through Whitemarsh, Wilmington and Tybee Islands was referred to as the Tybee Road.

Not much is known about Estill Avenue prior to 1908. It is generally thought to be named in honor of John Holbrook Estill (1868-1907), the publisher and editor of the Savannah Morning News during that time period. However, an earlier reference to this street name can be found on an 1898 Sanborn Map.

Estill and Dale Avenues were selected by the American Automobile Association (AAA) as the location for the first U.S. International Grand Prix Automobile Race and served as the final stretch of the racetrack where spectators and judges would watch the race. The U.S. International Grand Prix automobile races were held in Savannah in 1908, 1910, and 1911. These races at Estill and Dale Avenues brought fame and an economic stimulus to the City of Savannah. To create adequate raceways, the roadways were prepared for the race with oiled-gravel and “Augusta gravel,” a mixture of clay and coarse sand. This produced the best track conditions, helping racers reach speeds of up to 100 miles per hour. The course could also have been chosen for its native flora including canopies of live oak trees with Spanish moss and tall palmettos, much of which can be seen along Victory Drive today. Despite its success in Savannah, AAA elected to change the race location to Long Island, New York and racing on Estill and Dale Avenues ceased by 1912.

Hosting an international automobile race in the City of Savannah provided an opportunity to sell real estate to spectators visiting for the event, and improvements to the surrounding landscape and residential developments began. In 1910, Estill Avenue was lined by 475 sabal palmettos planted by the City of Savannah Park and Tree Commission.

Additional plantings were made by Chatham Land & Hotel Company in 1911. In the same year, Harvey Granger, the president of the Chatham Land & Hotel Company (developer of Chatham Crescent neighborhood), proposed the “beautification” of Estill Avenue, including the division of Estill Avenue with multiple lanes of travel. This division is arguably the first mention about the development of the iconic medians of Victory Drive. Around the time Estill Avenue was divided, the grandstands and visitor seating built along it were demolished. After demolition, the land these structures occupied became available for purchase and Savannah’s elite began to construct luxurious residences along both Estill and Dale Avenues. Granger commissioned the city’s Park and Tree Commission to plant and care for the trees along Estill Avenue as well as the trees planted in the median.

Because of the success of the planting, County Commissioner Oliver T. Bacon proposed the same improvements for Dale Avenue, expanding the project to include widening and paving the Avenue, the addition of granite curbing, and the cultivation of a landscaped median in 1913.

The project lasted nine years in an effort to create visual continuity between the avenues. The last section of granite curbing was in place by 1921, completing the improvement project for Dale Avenue and its integration into Estill Avenue.

It was during this redevelopment of Dale Avenue that the State of Georgia approved additional enhancements, including a fully paved extension to Tybee Island in 1919. On July 10, 1920, the commissioner’s office awarded Gadsden Contracting Company and the Virginia Bridge & Iron Company a $900,000 dollar contract to construct a bridge connecting Savannah to Tybee Island through the Town of Thunderbolt.

The Wilmington River Bridge, also called the Spence Grayson Bridge, was constructed of concrete block and pier, spanning 625 feet over the Wilmington River.

The cost of the Dale Avenue extension gave the project monikers such as, “Million Dollar Highway” and “A Million Dollar Chain” which was also known as “Million Dollar Road.” It was in 1919, after the approval of the Wilmington Bridge and Dale Avenue extension, that the idea of ‘Victory Avenue’ was first proposed. William O’Driscoll Rockwell, the Savannah City Engineer, presented the idea that the extension of Dale Avenue be dubbed “Victory Avenue” in memory of those who served in the First World War (1914-1918). In addition to the name, Rockwell proposed planting 135 sabal palmettos along the existing palm-lined drive; each palm commemorating a Chatham County resident who had fallen in the war. Although Rockwell envisioned “Victory Avenue” as the new name of the Dale Avenue extension project, it was “Victory Drive” that was adopted when the project was officially dedicated in 1922. A petition was soon made for Estill Avenue to join with Dale Avenue and be incorporated into the Victory Drive memorial. While it is uncertain when Estill Avenue officially became part of Victory Drive, the first Savannah Supplement to Code to reference the new name dates to 1936.

In addition to naming the highway in memory of WWI soldiers, a physical monument was also erected in their honor. On April 26, 1929, the American Legion Post 36, in collaboration with the Women’s Federation in Savannah, added to the newly named Victory Drive a 14,200 pound, rough-cut Georgia granite monument engraved with the names of all 135 soldiers from Chatham County lost during the war. This WWI Memorial Monument, or Roll of Honor Marker as it was also called, was placed at the intersection of Waters Avenue and Victory Drive. By 1929, Victory Drive boasted approximately 400 palmetto trees. In 1935, the Park and Tree Commission planted an additional 317 palmettos at the cost of $2,219 along the historic corridor from Bull Street to Hopkins Avenue. By 1950, 600 palmetto trees were in place.

At the peak of plantings, Victory Drive was said to be decorated with approximately 2,800 palmettos, thus causing some to claim the corridor as “the longest avenue of palms in the nation.”