Thirty-eight photographs of a place at the edge of a decision.
The name Yamacraw reaches back to the Native community led by Tomochichi on the Savannah River bluffs before the founding of colonial Savannah in 1733.12 By the early twentieth century, Old Yamacraw was a dense urban neighborhood, predominantly African American and also home to Irish and German residents. A federal housing study cited by Savannah’s Metropolitan Planning Commission recorded 784 dwellings and roughly 3,000 residents.3
Beginning in 1933, Savannah officials and property owners openly discussed clearing Yamacraw under what was then called “slum clearance.” Mayor Thomas Gamble argued that demolition and replacement housing could improve physical conditions, create construction work, and draw federal public-works money. The City’s own historical chronology records that Yamacraw was chosen ahead of other poor neighborhoods partly because it was more visible to people entering Savannah.11
By the late 1930s, Housing Authority chairman Fred Wessels called Old Yamacraw “the worst slum in Savannah” and argued that its houses should be demolished to make way for a new public-housing project.3 In 1938 the Housing Authority received federal funding to acquire land and build three segregated developments: Yamacraw Village and Fellwood Homes for Black residents, and Garden Homes Estate for white residents. The old neighborhood was cleared and residents were displaced; Fellwood and Yamacraw were intended to house displaced residents. The first family moved into the original 480-unit Yamacraw Village on May 1, 1941.3
The result was not a simple story of destruction or improvement. The New Deal project replaced deteriorated private housing with purpose-built low-rent housing, while the process that produced it also erased an existing neighborhood and reproduced racial segregation in public policy.
Yamacraw Village was built as part of the federal public-housing expansion of the New Deal. The original development contained 480 apartments; the buildings were constructed of Superrock concrete block with slag aggregate, using local crews and locally purchased materials.3 The housing was new, planned and publicly financed. It was also segregated by design. That tension — material improvement produced through clearance and racial separation — is part of the history of the place, not a footnote to it.
These photographs show exteriors. They cannot tell us what it felt like to raise children here, to know every neighbor, to worship nearby, or to make a home behind any particular door. Reporting with current and former residents documents both enduring attachment to Yamacraw and deep concern about displacement, living conditions, and whether residents will be able to return after redevelopment.57 Their testimony is part of the historical record; these images are only one record.
Residents have reported leaks, mold, pests, broken appliances, and repairs left undone; an April 2024 HUD inspection cited 29 “life-threatening” deficiencies, according to KFF Health News.5 Georgia Public Broadcasting reported that a 2023 assessment estimated more than $51 million in renovation needs.6 By September 2025, The Current reported that 217 of the 315 units were boarded and vacant, leaving 98 apartments described as habitable.7 Empty buildings are visible in this series, but the causes and consequences of that emptiness come from records and residents’ accounts, not from the photographs alone.
The Housing Authority of Savannah has sought federal approval to demolish 315 public-housing units. The City’s environmental review says the buildings are physically obsolete, rehabilitation is not financially practical, and any future redevelopment would require a separate environmental review.4 City planning materials identify the Housing Authority of Savannah as the owner and manager of Yamacraw Village.8 In May 2026, the Housing Authority said its redevelopment plan remained under HUD review and that eligible residents living at Yamacraw as of August 19, 2025 would have a primary right to return.10
Current-status statements were checked against public records and reporting on September 27, 2026. The federal review and redevelopment process may change after that date.
The Georgia State Historic Preservation Office determined Yamacraw Village eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places, and MPC’s Section 106 review found potential archaeological resources on the site.3 The review recommended archival documentation, archaeological monitoring, preservation of the Yamacraw name and square, and an oral-history project with current and former residents.3 A 2026 preliminary draft Memorandum of Agreement likewise calls for a permanent archival record and a Savannah Community Memory Project oral-history collection before demolition.9
Yamacraw Village is both a historic site and a place where people need safe, affordable homes now. Official preservation review identifies the property as historically significant and National Register–eligible, while the City’s current environmental record describes a proposed demolition of 315 units and requires separate review for any future redevelopment.34 The Housing Authority has stated that eligible residents will have a right to return; residents and advocates have continued to press for enforceable protections, clarity about timing, and enough deeply affordable replacement housing.710
The future of the land should be measured in homes and in the ability of residents to return, as well as in what can be saved.
Photographs by Jonathan Vasata. Black-and-white interpretation from the supplied source files; no image is cropped. Exact GPS links appear where a source image recorded coordinates. Photographs without recorded coordinates show no location link.
These photographs show exteriors and do not speak for residents or document the condition of any individual household. Factual historical and current-status statements above are tied to the numbered sources; interpretive sentences are presented as the photographer’s framing, not as documentary proof.
Sources reviewed September 27, 2026.