542 East 32nd Street
Ghost Residents  ·  No. 006  ·  Issue No. 1

He Built This House
for $600.

A seven year old arrived with everything he owned in a paper bag. That boy became a Supreme Court Justice.

542 East 32nd Street, Savannah, Georgia
1955 City Directory Confirmed · DEED Discovery
542 East 32nd Street
Photograph coming soon
542 East 32nd Street  ·  As it stands today

Myers Anderson built the house at 542 East 32nd Street with his own hands. He spent six hundred dollars. He ran an ice and wood delivery business out of the same address — the 1955 city directory records him precisely: ice and wood, 542 East 32nd, home same address.

In 1955 a seven year old boy named Clarence arrived here from Pin Point, Georgia, with everything he owned in a paper bag that was not even full. His mother had remarried. She could no longer care for Clarence and his brother. She sent them to live with her father — Myers Anderson.

What Myers Anderson gave Clarence Thomas was not comfort. It was discipline and expectation. He made his grandsons work. He made them study. He told them they would not fail.

That boy is now Associate Justice Clarence Thomas of the United States Supreme Court. No published biography had ever identified the address where he grew up. DEED found it in a 1955 Savannah city directory. The house is still standing at 542 East 32nd Street.

No published biography of Clarence Thomas had ever identified this address. DEED found it in the 1955 Savannah city directory.
600Dollars Myers Anderson spent building this house by hand
7Years old when Clarence Thomas arrived here
1991Year Clarence Thomas was confirmed to the Supreme Court
THE RECORD Primary Source
Primary source document
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1955 Savannah City Directory
NameMyers (Tena)
OccupationIce and wood delivery
Address542 E 32d
Noteh do — home same address
DiscoveryFirst published identification of this address
Primary Source Citation
1955 Savannah City Directory · Myers (Tena) ice and wood 542 E 32d h do · Entry read directly · Address confirmed — building still standing · DEED History, April 2026
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