GEORGE W. MARTUS

MAY 31, 1861

JUNE 24, 1940

FLORENCE M. MARTUS

AUG. 7, 1868

FEB. 8. 1943

IN MEMORY OF THE WAVING GIRL AND HER BROTHER,

KEEPERS OF THE LIGHT HOUSE ON ELBA ISLAND. SAVH RIVER FOR 35 YRS.

Savannah, Georgia, like many historic cities has a Hop-on-Hop-off Trolley that takes you round the city with the tour guide regaling the tourists on the bus with many fascinating, spooky, and sometimes tragic stories.  Few of the stories told are as poignant as the story of the “Waving Girl.”  And here is where the myth comes in.

As the story goes, the young redhead, Florence Martus, fell in love with a good-looking sailor.  Unfortunately, he was soon to set sail shortly after they fell for each other.  But they pledged their love and promised that as soon as he returned, they would renew their love and begin their life together.  She promised to be faithful.  Patiently and hopefully, Florence waved her white apron greeting incoming ships and at night she waved a lantern hoping that her true love would be on board and see her.  For forty-four years she kept her vigil by the lighthouse, but her sailor never returned.  She never again saw the love of her youth and she died broken hearted.

But after further research, what I found out is that that fanciful tale is not, in fact, true.  It does sound terribly romantic, and you can imagine how a story like this got started as the story of the Waving Girl was told and re-told.  There is a lot of truth in the story.  Florence did live on Elba Island with her brother, George.  They took over the care of the lighthouse when their father died.  And Florence did wave at passing ships—from 1887 until 1931!  But, according to Savannah’s Monuments: The Untold Stories by Michael Freeman, published by Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., page 59, Florence gave an interview late in her life where she dispelled the myth that had grown up around her, “That’s a nice story.  But what got me started…I was young and it was sort of lonely on the island for a girl.  At first I would run out to wave at my friends passing, and I was so tickled when they blew the whistle back at me…”

Felix De Weldon, famous for his statue of the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima statue in Washington, D.C., was commissioned to create the bronze statue of Florence Martus. The statue was erected on the east end of River Street in Savannah not in remembrance of her lost love, but her devotion to greeting the passing ships for over four decades.

The cautionary tale here is: “Don’t believe everything you hear from a tour guide.”