Montgomery Community Project
Montgomery is a small community located on the Vernon River, south of the city of Savannah. Once isolated from other populated areas, it is now contiguous to the Savannah metropolitan area. The purpose of this project is to evaluate the historical significance and cultural heritage of the small community of Montgomery, to identify vernacular architecture of the area, to determine contributing properties and to ultimately get local government recognition of the area of its cultural significance. To achieve the goals, the project team focused on evaluating historical significance of Montgomery community through the history of different social sects, including religion, family business, transportation and economics. Since spring 2010, more than 50 SCAD undergraduate and graduate students have been involved as field surveyors and researchers to collect social, historical, and architectural data. Project surveyors collected oral history from direct interviews with current community members. All interview processes were recorded in audio/video formats under agreements with interviewees. With collection of social history, field surveyors documented three types of community buildings such as historic public buildings, residential houses, and Summer Villa homes along the Vernon River.
