Savannah City Market
The old market building is gone. What remains is a short run of artist studios, shops, bars and one museum between two squares.
Written by Alex H., Travel editor and researcherUpdated September 2026
In short: Walk through on the way from Ellis Square to Franklin Square. Stay for the upstairs artist studios, the Prohibition Museum, food or evening music. There is no single opening time, and this is not Savannah's farmers' market.
The market hall is gone. Savannah demolished it in 1954 and put a parking deck on Ellis Square. That deck came down in 2005, the cars went underground and the square returned above them. Today's City Market begins just west of Ellis: two pedestrian blocks of galleries, shops, restaurants, bars and attractions.
That makes City Market a useful connector, not a day plan. Give it half an hour if you are curious. Give it longer only when you can name the reason.
Visiting basics
- Where
- The 200 and 300 blocks of W. St. Julian Street, between Ellis and Franklin squares
- What it is
- A pedestrian district of artist studios, shops, restaurants, bars and attractions—not a surviving market hall
- Admission
- Free to walk; the museum, food, drinks and purchases cost separately
- Hours
- No universal business hours; check the individual merchant or attraction
- Time
- About 30 minutes to pass through; one to two hours with studios or food
- Parking
- Whitaker Street Garage, 7 Whitaker St., at the Ellis Square end
- Restrooms
- At the Ellis Square visitor center
- Facts checked
- September 2, 2026
The name is older than the place you see
Georgia's first recorded law for a Savannah market dates to 1755, but it did not name this site. A 1763 act moved the market from Wright Square and set aside ground in Ellis Square. Fires and replacements followed; the hall built in the 1870s was the one lost to the 1954 parking deck.
The present shopping district came later. In the 1980s, old warehouses and arcades west of the square were remade for studios, shops and places to eat. The name survived. The building did not.
Walk from Ellis to Franklin
Start at Ellis Square. It has the visitor center and restrooms, an interactive fountain and the Johnny Mercer figure, with Whitaker Street Garage below. Then turn west onto West St. Julian Street. The first courtyard holds the upstairs American Prohibition Museum; the working artist studios are also easy to miss if you never look above street level.
Continue through the 200 and 300 blocks and finish in Franklin Square, where the Haitian Monument honors the Chasseurs-Volontaires de Saint-Domingue who fought in the Siege of Savannah. That is the whole route. It does not need a scavenger hunt through every candy counter.
What earns more than a walk-through?
The artist studios
The Art Center is upstairs, with dozens of local artists working across individual studios. This is City Market's most specific reason to browse rather than pass through. Check the current directory if a particular artist or medium matters; the roster can change.
The Prohibition Museum
The museum is the cleanest ticketed stop here: a theatrical indoor route through temperance, bootlegging and the 1920s, ending at a working speakeasy on eligible tickets. The full museum guide separates ordinary entry, the guided visit and the evening cocktail class, including the age rules.
Food and evening music
City Market gets louder and more bar-led after dark. At this check, its calendar advertises courtyard music from 5 to 9 p.m. daily, weather permitting. Check the calendar for your date, and use the restaurant guide if you want a meal chosen for more than its proximity to the courtyard.
Book only what changes the visit
One ticket is inside City Market, one food route names it, and one trolley lets you use it as a stop in a wider first-day loop.
- Check availability →
American Prohibition Museum Ticket
★ 4.7 (146 reviews) · from $20
The straightforward paid stop inside City Market; use the museum guide to compare the other formats first.
See the catalog breakdown - Check availability →
Historic District Guided Food Tour with 5 Tastings
★ 4.3 (15 reviews) · 3 hours · from $97
A food-led route through City Market, the squares and Broughton Street.
- Check availability →
Old Town Hop-On Hop-Off Trolley Tour
★ 4.7 (1,872 reviews) · 1 day · from $46
Useful when City Market is one stop in a larger downtown overview, rather than the destination for the day.
See the catalog breakdown
Catalog prices and ratings can move. Checkout shows the final terms. These links may earn the site a commission at no extra cost to you.
City Market, River Street or the farmers' market?
The names invite the wrong assumptions. Choose by what you actually want:
| Place | Go for | Know first |
|---|---|---|
| City Market | Artist studios, shops, the Prohibition Museum, food and evening music | No market hall and no shared business hours; about 30 minutes without a stop |
| River Street | River views, working ships, old cotton warehouses, the free ferry and riverboat cruises | It sits below Bay Street; steps, cobbled ramps and elevators connect the levels |
| Forsyth Farmers' Market | Produce and prepared food from a producer-only market | Saturday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., year-round, at the south end of Forsyth Park |
Daylight and evening are different visits
Daylight is for the studios, shops and museum. Evening is for dinner, drinks and whatever is on in the courtyard. Because each business keeps its own hours, a lively courtyard does not mean every shop is open—and an open walkway is not proof that the music is happening.
About the to-go cup
City Market sits inside Savannah's permitted zone, but the container still matters: one drink per person, no more than 16 ounces, in paper, plastic or an aluminum cup. No glass, bottle or original can. Ask the business before taking a drink out.
Park at Ellis; finish at Franklin
Whitaker Street Garage at 7 Whitaker Street is the simple arrival. It puts you at Ellis Square and avoids circling the pedestrian blocks. The parking guide carries current weekday, weekend and event rates, which are too changeable to freeze into this page.
From Franklin Square, continue south into the west side of the Historic District, east toward Broughton Street, or turn the day toward River Street. If walking is not the plan, compare the paid narrated loop with the free city shuttle in the trolley guide. For a route built around tastings rather than shopping, start with the food-tour comparison.
Is City Market worth it?
Yes, when it is already on the way. The two blocks connect useful parts of downtown, cost nothing to walk and give you several credible reasons to stop. No, if the plan is a special drive for a grand historic market building. That building has been gone since 1954.
Hours, parking and the missing market hall
What is Savannah City Market?
A pedestrian shopping, gallery, restaurant and bar district on the 200 and 300 blocks of West St. Julian Street, between Ellis and Franklin squares. The old public market building no longer stands. There is no gate or central indoor market hall.
Is Savannah City Market worth visiting?
Yes as part of a downtown walk. Give it about 30 minutes on the way between Ellis and Franklin squares, or stay for the artist studios, American Prohibition Museum, a meal or evening music. It is not worth building a separate half-day around unless one of those is the point.
What are the hours for City Market?
There are no universal business hours. City Market tells visitors to check with each shop, studio, restaurant, bar or attraction. The public pedestrian route can be walked without a ticket, but an open courtyard does not mean every door is open.
Is City Market free?
Walking through City Market and visiting Ellis and Franklin squares is free. Shops, food, drinks and the American Prohibition Museum cost separately, and some gallery purchases or events have their own terms.
How long should I spend at City Market?
Allow about 30 minutes for a pass-through and one to two hours if you browse the artist studios or stop for food. The American Prohibition Museum is a separate 45-to-60-minute visit, while a meal or evening out can take as long as you give it.
Where should I park for City Market?
Whitaker Street Garage at 7 Whitaker Street is the straightforward choice at the Ellis Square end. It has four underground levels. Rates change by day and event, so use the site parking guide for the current table instead of relying on an old quoted price.
Is City Market a farmers' market?
No. City Market is a permanent commercial district, not a produce market. The food-only, producer-only Forsyth Farmers' Market runs at the south end of Forsyth Park on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. year-round.
Is City Market the same as River Street?
No. City Market is above the bluff between Ellis and Franklin squares; River Street is the waterfront below Bay Street, with old cotton warehouses, the free ferry and the riverboat dock. They fit in the same day, but each is a separate walk.
Is there live music at City Market?
At this September 2, 2026 check, the official calendar lists Courtyard Serenades from 5 to 9 p.m. daily, weather permitting. Treat that as current programming rather than a permanent promise and check the event calendar for your date.
What happened to the old City Market building?
The market hall built in the 1870s was demolished in 1954 for a parking garage. That garage came down in 2005; underground parking replaced it and Ellis Square returned at street level. The City Market visitors see now grew from the reuse of nearby warehouses and arcades in the 1980s.
Primary sources
Checked September 2, 2026. Schedules, fees and policies can change, so recheck a linked source when the detail will affect your visit.
- City Market: about — district, tenant mix and Art Center
- City Market: directory — current studios, shops, food and experiences
- City Market: contact — individual business hours
- City Market: events — current courtyard programming
- City Market: decline and revitalization — 1980s commercial reuse
- City of Savannah: Ellis Square — market site, garage and square amenities
- City of Savannah Municipal Archives: Autos in the Archives — 1870s market, parking deck and underground garage
- City of Savannah: Old City Market lease — 200 and 300 blocks of West St. Julian Street
- City of Savannah: Franklin Square — western square and 1980s restoration
- City of Savannah: Haitian Monument — Chasseurs-Volontaires de Saint-Domingue
- City of Savannah: Whitaker Street Garage — address and four underground levels
- City of Savannah: alcohol ordinance — City Market zone and container rules
- Adelaide Wilson's 1889 Savannah history — 1755 market law and 1763 move to Ellis Square
- American Prohibition Museum — location and visit length
- Forsyth Farmers' Market — Saturday food market
- Old Town Trolley: hop-on hop-off — current City Market stop
- GetYourGuide: Savannah activities — current bookable listings
Use City Market as the hinge
Come through after the Telfair museums, stop for the Prohibition Museum if the weather sends you inside, and leave the waterfront for its own lower-level loop. If you are staying nearby, the hotel guide compares the north and central district by fees as well as location.
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