SAVANNAH — Patrick McDonald launched his walking tour business in 1996, the year before “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” debuted in theaters and revealed the historic beauty and haunted vibes of Savannah’s downtown to the world.
Starting Saturday, McDonald will be breaking the law should he walk his Savannah Ghostwalker Tour guests to many of the sites central to the story of “Midnight” — and other haunts south of Liberty Street — after 10 p.m.
The Savannah city government is piloting a program meant to eliminate late-night touring in part of its historic downtown. The 90-day crackdown is in response to complaints from neighborhood residents about noise, blocked sidewalks and inconsiderate selfie-seekers prone to pose on porches and in doorways.
Off limits to McDonald and other walking tour operators is The Mercer House, where “Midnight” main character Jim Williams shot and killed his lover. Also banned is Spanish moss-draped Jones Street, Clary’s Cafe and the Sorrel-Weed House, all must-sees for “Midnight” fans and those interested in Savannah’s ghost stories.
Walking tours are the latest front in Mayor Van Johnson’s campaign to balance tourism and residents’ quality of life. The mayor and city council adopted an amplified noise ordinance last year targeting downtown’s ubiquitous motorized trolleys. Johnson said at the time walking tour operators should consider the law’s passage as “notice” of coming legislative action if they didn’t address their reputation as late-night nuisances.
In early January, council blessed the pilot program, which will run for 90 days starting Feb. 1. McDonald and other walking tour guides intend to defy the off-limits order. They cite arguments ranging from the legal — First Amendment rights, restraint of trade, use of public space — to the pragmatic, specifically years of lax enforcement of existing laws that has allowed disruptive behavior and “bad actors” to proliferate within their ranks.
“Everybody wants to visit Disney World but nobody wants to live in Disney World, and Savannah will not be Disney World,” Johnson said. “Savannah will be a great place to live first, and then a great place to visit after that. I’m crystal clear about that. We will have balance.”
McDonald offers a different interpretation of the city’s actions.
“Downtown is a living, breathing urban environment and residents want to create their own gated community down there,” said McDonald, who with his long gray hair and “man in black” style of dress is almost as big a character as the subjects he describes during his late-night tours. “And the mayor and city government are helping them.”
Credit: Stephen B. Morton for The Atlanta Journal Constitution
Credit: Stephen B. Morton for The Atlanta Journal Constitution
Getting ahead of the data?
Influential allies, such as the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce and the Savannah-based Tourism Leadership Council, or TLC, have rallied around the city’s 60-plus walking tour operators. Many are sole proprietors, entrepreneurs without the financial resources to operate a trolley or carriage business but who possess what TLC Chief Executive Michael Owens describes as “the gift of gab and a passion for our shared history” and a desire to use those talents “to grab a piece of the tourism pie for themselves.”
Owens’ opposition to the pilot program is rooted in the city’s enforcement approach. Savannah issued just five citations to walking tour operators in 2024 — four for blocking sidewalks and one for exceeding the maximum number of 30 guests in a group — according to records obtained through the Georgia Open Records Act. The city employed just one nighttime tourism compliance officer in 2024, and that job was open for part of the year.
Another open records request for documented complaints against walking tour operators returned no data. A city spokesman said there are plenty of “anecdotal” complaints, many of them passed along by members of the Downtown Neighborhood Association, a coalition of historic district residents and property owners.
The neighborhood association’s president, David McDonald, has videos and other evidence of neighborhood disruptions by walking tour guides and guests.
“I’ve gone up and talked to tour guides about not blocking the sidewalk and been cussed out,” McDonald said. “We do not want to put anyone out of business but it’s not unreasonable to create an environment where residents have peace and quiet after 10 o’clock at night.”
Even so, the limited number of citations and absence of formal complaints has tourism industry advocates questioning the city’s decision to enact the pilot program. The TLC’s Owens likens the move to traffic police neglecting to patrol a local expressway for three years and, in response to rampant speeding, banning cars and closing the road.
“I don’t think the city has thought this thing out,” said Brigid Pitts, who operates The Witching Hour Paranormal Ghost Tour. “It seems they are working to sabotage walking tours. The city says they like the vitality that tourism and walking tours in particular bring to downtown yet now they want to limit opportunities.”
Credit: Wesley K.H. Teo
Credit: Wesley K.H. Teo
Fear of what’s to come
Pitts is among those walking tour guides protesting the pilot program who aren’t directly affected by it because their routes don’t include the restricted areas.
Their concerns are twofold: That the off-limits zone will force affected guides to relocate their tours into permitted parts of downtown, causing greater congestion on sidewalks and squares; and that the restricted area will expand over time to cover nearly the entire historic district, as is the case in Charleston, South Carolina, where tours are banned after 6 p.m.
The guides are mobilizing. They founded and registered the Savannah Association of Local Tours in mid-January and will seek nonprofit status.
In the meantime, some operators, such as Patrick McDonald, intend to challenge the pilot program and continue to stage tours after 10 p.m. in the restricted area. In a public information meeting two weeks ago, he told a city official he is prepared to pay “thousands of dollars” in fines. The city has established a penalty structure that starts at $100 and escalates for repeat offenders.
“The pilot program is an effort to see if they can scare us into compliance,” McDonald said. “It’s like breaking a horse: Ride it while it bucks you but eventually it’ll fall in line with all the other horses. That’s their thinking.
“I, for one, won’t be broken.”
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