Gracie Perry Watson died April 22, 1889, at age six, from pneumonia. Her father, manager of the Pulaski House hotel, commissioned sculptor John Walz to create this statue from a photograph taken shortly before her death. The marble is lifelike — Gracie seated with her legs crossed at the ankles, her right hand resting atop a section of tree trunk entwined with ivy. In 1890, when the rising sculptor John Walz moved to Savannah, he carved from a photograph this life-sized, delicately detailed marble statue, which has captured the interest of all passersby. Gracie’s parents never recovered from their loss and ended up moving back to New England, leaving Gracie’s spirit alone in Savannah. More than a century after her death, Little Gracie Watson remains one of Savannah’s most often-visited residents, with visitors leaving small gifts, toys, and trinkets at her grave, especially around Christmas and by children.
Shot at Bonaventure Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia, 2026.
