Savannah Theatre

The Savannah Theatre opened on December 4, 1818, on what is now Chippewa Square, and has operated in some form ever since — making it one of the oldest continuously running theaters in the United States. That long run hasn't been undisturbed: fires in 1906 and 1948 both gutted the interior, and each time the theater was rebuilt, most recently in the Art Deco style still visible today.

Those fires left their mark on the building's folklore. The most frequently told story involves an actress, remembered as "Betty," said to have died in one of the early blazes and never quite left the stage. A second recurring figure, a young boy nicknamed "Ben," is blamed for interference with the lighting equipment near the balcony and booth.

Staff have logged decades of unexplained sounds and small disruptions — applause with no audience, footsteps across an empty stage, props moved between performances — closely enough that the theater now runs its own tours built around the reputation rather than around it.