At 207 East Charlton Street, just across the way from the beautiful Lafayette Square in Savannah, Georgia, sits a quaint 19^th century Greek Revival townhouse that’s more than one hundred and sixty years old.

Being somewhat of an aficionado of old homes, I often reflect on their history, thinking about the people that have passed through their thresholds and the lives they’ve nurtured day after day, year after year, within their brick and mortar confines.

But this particular home, here on East Charlton, possesses quite a remarkable story.

If these walls could talk, they would tell of one exceptional little girl who grew up here during The Depression Era.

An infant whose view from her nursery window would serve as a daily reminder of her family’s devout Catholic faith.

A unique child that developed an early and passionate love for both books and birds, spending countless hours with each.

 A little girl whose incredible imagination would later be depicted in her phenomenal writing, and would one day deem her as one of the most esteemed Southern Gothic writers in American literature.

I’m speaking, of course, of Flannery O’Connor.

Mary Flannery O’Connor spent the first thirteen years of her life here on East Charlton.  It was here that a young Mary Flannery read and often critiqued many of her owned children’s books, offering up a mere peek of the emerging literary brilliance that was yet to come.

 It was this backyard garden that laid host to a six-year-old Flannery’s claim to fame when a New York reporter was sent to interview and photograph her along with her famously trained backward-walking chicken.  

Best known for her eccentric southern characters, the religiously or morally based situations she places them in, and the unexpected and sometimes violently shocking consequence-of-their-action endings, O’Connor’s unparalleled and gripping style set in the very confrontational Jim Crow South, continues to entertain with captivation, suspense, and humor.

“I am not afraid that the book will be controversial, I’m afraid it will not be controversial.” ~Flannery O’Connor

While battling lupus, the same illness that claimed her father when she was fifteen, O’Connor managed to produce two novels, thirty-two short stories, and numerous reviews, essays, and commentaries. A three-time recipient of the O. Henry Award and a posthumous winner of The National Book Award for Fiction, we are reminded that she left the literary realm all too soon at the age of thirty-nine.

Preserved in Savannah’s beautiful Historic District, 207 East Charlton Street celebrates the American novelist. Known as The Flannery O’Connor Childhood Home, it is also one of the few Depression Era museum houses in our country.

And while these walls don’t have audible voices, visitors to the museum are taken back to the simple everyday life of the young Mary Flannery with a guided tour throughout the home and a look at the many memories of the author’s early years.

Along with photographs and artifacts from O’Connor’s life, guests can view the collection in The Bruckheimer Library, which includes books from her childhood.

Aside from commemorating the author’s accomplished life, the home continues to play a part in the literary world. Also operating as a literary center for Savannah, the museum home hosts events from October to May, including informative lectures, author and poet talks, readings, book discussions, and more. Their 2020 Spring Lecture Series is held on select Sunday afternoons at 4 pm.

 A jubilant celebration takes place each March in Lafayette Square to celebrate O’Connor’s birthday. The Annual Birthday Parade and Street Fair features family-friendly live music, a parade, games, teas and cakes on the lawn, as well as local vendors, authors, and special readings.

The Flannery O’Connor Childhood Home, a glimpse, if not a “bird’s eye view,” into one of the South’s most captivating literary geniuses of all time.

To learn more about The Flannery O’Connor Childhood Home and events

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