By Lee Maltenfort and Leslie Alwiel
If you are reading this you probably already love old cemeteries. If you would like to help preserve one the 10 most beautiful Victorian Era cemeteries in the world, according to Travel+Leisure.com, consider joining the Bonaventure Historical Society. The BHS was created in 1992 by a retired Savannah school teacher and several of his friends. Our mission has always been the preservation and conservation of Savannah’s historic Bonaventure Cemetery.
Our membership page provides more information on joining.
A young camellia planting. Photo by Leslie Alwiel
One of the benefits of membership is our newsletter. This lovely and informative publication provides a look at current happenings as well as historical perspectives for our members. The June/July 2017 issue has stories on preserving the camellias of Bonaventure and a visit by one of Mayor Richard Arnold’s descendants. Mayor Arnold is credited with convincing General Sherman to not burn Savannah.
June/July Newsletter
Here is the most recent newsletter update from our Chairman, Lee Maltenfort:
The accolades keep pouring in as Bonaventure Cemetery’s reputation grows nationally and globally.
The popular internet site TripAdvisor recently ranked Savannah as one of the best places to spend a tax refund and named Bonaventure Cemetery as its best free attraction. Yelp, another online review site has Bonaventure topping the list of Savannah attractions with plenty of rave reviews posted from visitors.
We continue to receive request for photos and information from a growing number of national and regional publications, most recently Cincinnati Magazine.
Closer to home, Bonaventure was added to the Georgia Camellia Trail and the American Camellia Society. Our camellias have also been recognized by the Georgia Department of Economic Development.
These events and others may be contributing to the success of our mobile tour app for Apple and Android devices. So far this year we are close to $2,000 in sales.
Bonaventure Historical Society and its volunteers deserve significant credit for these accomplishments. We are deeply grateful for the tireless hours spent guiding tours, staffing the Visitors Center and tending the gardens. As always, thank you for your continuing support of Bonaventure and BHS.
