River Street is a commercial street and promenade in Savannah, Georgia, United States. It runs along the southern edge of the Savannah River for, from the merging of North and East Lathrop Avenues in the west to East Bay Street in the east. Its most well-known section runs from the Talmadge Memorial Bridge, then below City Hall and Yamacraw Bluff, to its eastern terminus. It is West River Street up to where the Hyatt Regency spans it, at which point it becomes East River Street. The street is one-way downtown. Today East River Street houses restaurants, cafés and craft shops, and is one of the city's major tourist attractions. Its half-mile-long pedestrian promenade, the John P. Rousakis Riverfront Plaza, is named in honor of John Rousakis, Savannah's longest-serving mayor. At its downtown stretch, the street's southern side is populated by terraces of former King Cotton warehouses. Factors Row, a bluffside row of red brick buildings where cotton brokers bargained during the product's heyday, helps preserve this industry in its name. Factors Walk connects the upper offices to the lower warehouses. The warehouses were also used as holding cells for African slaves.
Transportation
The River Street Streetcar, a heritage streetcar line, served six stops between Montgomery Street and East Broad Street from 2009 to 2015. The lines were originally used by horsecars, then streetcars. The Norfolk Southern Railway had owned the River Street branch line for years, operating the River Street Rambler, a local freight train, until 2003. The City of Savannah purchased the River Street Branch line right-of-way from Norfolk Southern in 2004 for approximately $600,000. Old Town Trolley Tours has a stop on River Street below Factors Walk. Old Savannah Tours has two stops on River Street: one close to Old Town's stop and the other at the marketplace further east. There are no city bus stops on River Street. The nearest ones are at Congress and Jefferson, Johnson Square, and Lincoln and Congress, which are all served by Chatham Area Transit's fare-free DOT "downtown loop" service. Lincoln Street ramp leads down to East River Street beside the western end of Factors Walk. Large tankers and container ships proceeding to and returning from the Port of Savannah west of the city sometimes pass within yards of the promenade.
