Abe's on Lincoln

Tucked away on a quiet corner within Savannah’s National Historic District is Abe’s on Lincoln. A bar favored among locals and the kind of off-the-radar hangout one craves as a tourist, it is more than your average corner pub. It offers a combination of what has defined Savannah: history, drinking, and art. The latter comes courtesy of its ever-evolving installation of napkin art.

Napkin after napkin of illustrations cover the wooden beams of the bar’s low, centuries-old ceiling and tuck themselves among eclectic objects on the walls. Each slip offers an artistic take on the same subject: the country’s 16th president, Abraham Lincoln. There is Abe riding a bike, as a zombie, as SpongeBob Squarepants, among others. Many depict the image ingrained into historical memory: a man stoically gazing out under thick eyebrows, distinct cheekbones, and signature top hat. 

While the bar itself is named after Honest Abe, the street where it sits are named for Benjamin Lincoln, a Revolutionary War general who fought in the Siege of Savannah in 1779.