Investigating Tondee's Tavern
As a fan of ghost hunting/paranormal investigating…whatever you want to call it, there is hardly a better place to live than Savannah Georgia. Not only do we get to work at one of the World's' best ghost tour companies, Ghost City Tours, but we also get to investigate some of the World's most haunted locations. You can't lose here! This video is from a recent investigation at Tondee's Tavern on Bay Street in Savannah. I was investigating this location for an episode of our series, The Dead Sessions. In this series, Chris Allen of Haunted Savannah Tours and myself investigate some of the most haunted places around. Since the main emphasis of The Dead Sessions is EVPs this clip doesn't fit with the final product. It is interesting none-the-less. There are certainly ghosts in this haunted Savannah location.I am using a MEL REM-ATDD and an RT-EVP device for this session. The MEL is a great device that can be used to be alerted of disturbances in EM fields. Many paranormal investigators think that ghosts can manipulate the EM fields around us, or simply produce EM fields when they are trying to manifest. This device will detect any disturbances and alert us to them. Many times we will use devices like the MEL REM-ATDD to do question and answer sessions with the ghosts we come across. As the video shows, we can ask the ghosts to interact with the EM field around the device. You'll also notice that I ask the same question multiple times, attempting to rule out coincidental alerts. It must be said that we had this device on in the basement for almost an hour prior to this video clip..and it never went off.
Fast Facts
- •Named for Peter Tondee's colonial tavern, where Georgia's Sons of Liberty met
- •The original tavern stood at Broughton and Whitaker Streets and burned in 1796
- •Today's building on East Bay Street dates to 1853
- •Upstairs once held the offices of slave broker Joseph Bryan
- •Investigated for GCT's The Dead Sessions series
The History of Tondee's Tavern
Tondee's Tavern is a great place to investigate here in Savannah. The building dates back to 1853. It takes its name from Peter Tondee's colonial tavern, where Georgia's Sons of Liberty met in the 1770s; that original tavern stood at Broughton and Whitaker Streets and was destroyed by fire in 1796. The ground floor of this building was used by the Central Railway and Banking Company. On the upper floor, accessed from the rear of the building, was the offices of Joseph Bryan, the largest and most infamous slave broker of the 1850's in Savannah. It is rumored, but not verifiable, that slaves were occasionally stored in the basement, which is where this video was captured. I don't know that I buy into this though…The slave pens were located right out of the back door, in Bay Lane. I don't know why the basement would be used to keep slaves when the actual slave yards were just a few feet away. In addition, the way the basement was laid out, there wasn't a room to keep anyone in.
During the Civil War, specifically during Sherman's occupation of Savannah, this location was used by General John Geary or the Union Army, who commanded the city of Savannah after its surrender.
In recent years the building housed Tondee's Tavern, a restaurant named for the colonial tavern. Tondee's Tavern has since closed and no longer occupies the building, but the building and its stories remain.
Getting to Tondee's Tavern
The building stands at 7 East Bay Street, close to many of Savannah's hotels and B&Bs. Tondee's Tavern has closed and no longer occupies the space, so the building can be seen from the street only. If you are booked on our Savannah Haunted Pub Crawl, the meeting point is listed on the tour page and in your confirmation. The haunted legacy here is inseparable from the larger question of why Savannah is the most haunted city in America.
Visitor Tips
- The original Tondee's Tavern site is a few blocks south, at Broughton and Whitaker
- Investigators focused on the basement
- Look for the 1853 bank building on East Bay Street
- Pub crawl guests should check their tour confirmation for the meeting point
- Ask your guide about the building's history and the patriot spirits people have reported here
- Remember the building's connection to Savannah's slave trade
- Bay Lane, behind the building, was the site of slave pens
- Listen for what some guests describe as phantom patriot meetings during quiet moments
- Guests say Independence Day and political anniversaries bring the most activity
- Legend says political discussions attract the founding-father spirits
- Some guests bring a copy of the Declaration of Independence, saying the spirits respond to it
- Tondee's Tavern has closed; view the building from the sidewalk
