Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace Museum

Before the Lows and Gordons took over, the original 1820 home in this district belonged to James Moore Wayne. He was a wealthy slaveowner and an influential Supreme Court Justice who helped push through the infamous 1857 Dred Scott decision, an expansive legal ruling that denied citizenship to African Americans and protected the expansion of slavery. When the Civil War erupted, it immediately tore through the social fabric of this city, forcing neighbors and kin to draw hard battle lines. Political beliefs and war completely fractured Savannah's elite families. Despite his devastating rulings protecting slavery, Wayne remained fiercely loyal to the Union, refusing to step down from the Supreme Court even when Georgia seceded. His son took the opposite path, resigning his United States Army commission to serve as a Confederate General, tearing the family apart. By then, Wayne had sold the family estate to the Gordon family, and Juliette Gordon Low was born there in 1860. She later moved into this building, the Andrew Low House. Check out the image on your app to get a closer look at its Greek Revival design, specifically the entry portico inspired by the ancient Tower of the Winds in Athens. Juliette's adult life here was incredibly difficult. She went completely deaf in one ear after a doctor accidentally punctured her eardrum trying to remove a grain of good-luck rice from her wedding. Her marriage to William Low was a disaster, plagued by his drinking and a very public affair with an actress. He even withheld her money to force a divorce, but he died suddenly of a seizure in 1905. When Juliette discovered he had secretly left his fortune to his mistress, she fought back and won a five hundred thousand dollar settlement, which equals roughly fifteen million dollars today. That massive financial victory gave her the independence to found the Girl Scouts in 1912. Watch the decades slip by at the historic Andrew Low House, where a 1939 black-and-white snapshot transitions into vibrant modern photography while the grand architecture remains beautifully preserved. Today, the National Society of the Colonial Dames uses this house as its headquarters, and you can explore the district buildings any day of the week from 10 AM to 5 PM.