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Savannah GA 30 Years After Forrest Gump

Posted on by Vaseline

In July 1994, Forrest Gump captured the hearts of people across the country in the dramedy about an Alabama native with below-average intelligence but an above-average ability to find himself in the right place at the right time. Based on the 1986 novel by Winston Groom, Gump, played by Tom Hanks, tells his life story to the strangers he meets on a bus stop bench in Savannah’s Chippewa Square.

In honor of the Academy Award-winning film’s 30th anniversary, we toured the locations that set the stage for Forrest Gump’s life on the silver screen.

St. John’s Episcopal Church

In the opening scene of Forrest Gump, we see a white feather floating down from the sky. In the background, we see glimpses of Madison Square, St. John’s Episcopal Church, and the spire of the Independent Presbyterian Church.

As if in a cinematic scene, there is an invisible transition to Chippewa Square, where we meet the main character waiting for the number 9 bus to Richmond Street.

Chippewa Square

Gump sits on a bench in Chippewa Square, offering chocolates and stories to strangers. Although the spot where the bench was in the movie is a garden, the sign for Chippewa Square is still there.

The bench on display at the Savannah History Museum on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard is not the bench seen in the film. It is, in fact, one of a handful of replicas made and distributed by the production company after the film wrapped. The original bench is located on the Paramount lot in Los Angeles.

Debi’s Restaurant

Debi’s Laurie’s Restaurant, formerly in Wright Square at 10 W. State St., is where Jenny, Gump’s childhood friend and eventual wife, worked as a waitress. Debi’s has since moved to 225 E. Bay St., and the building where the restaurant sat for decades, with windows painted with quotes from the film, has been renovated and houses a bagel shop, as well as other shops and offices.

Love’s Fish Restaurant

In an earlier scene in the film, when Forrest comes to watch Jenny perform Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” while naked behind her guitar, she’s at Love’s Seafood Restaurant, which set designers have converted into a truck stop. Though the “GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS” sign you see in the film isn’t there, you can still get seafood at Love’s.

Destini Ambus is the general assignments reporter for Chatham County municipalities for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach her at [email protected]