Here's where you can find Forrest Gump's bench in Savannah
In the Hostess City, you can find the bench Tom Hanks made famous. But it's not in Chippewa Square.
In the Hostess City, you can find the bench Tom Hanks made famous. But it's not in Chippewa Square.
In the Hostess City, you can find the bench Tom Hanks made famous. But it's not in Chippewa Square.
When visiting the Savannah History Museum, for many tourists like Adrienne Stueven and her family, it's kind of like a box of chocolates.
You just never know...
"We didn't know the bench was here," she said. "So it was really cool to see and share it with our kids."
She's talking about the bench Tom Hanks made famous in the movie 'Forrest Gump.'
"When Forrest Gump completed filming in 1994, this bench was gifted to the City of Savannah by Paramount Pictures," said Emily Beck, director of interpretation for the Coastal Heritage Society.
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"This is probably the most popular artifact in this museum, i think, especially for people who are just coming to the museum site, unseen," she said.
Savannah City Councilman and bench historian Nick Palumbo says most people think the bench is still at Chippewa Square.
"It's still one of the number one questions," Palumbo said. "If you're here in Chippewa Square, that people are asking where's the bench? And then you have to give them that heartbreaking news that we had to put it in a museum."
"You might notice that we have a fence built around it now because so many people want to sit on it and have their picture made," Beck said.
And they don't want it to break, especially since it's not an actual wood bench. It's a prop made of fiberglass.
So if you go looking for the famous Forrest Gump bench, remember it's no longer in Chippewa Square where Gen. James Oglethorpe stands.
It's nicely tucked away in the Savannah History Museum, for those who've seen the classic and those yet to discover its magic.
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