Savannah, GA

INTRODUCTION

Savannah's metropolitan area includes three Georgia counties: Bryan, Chatham, and Effingham.

Savannah's architecture and history are internationally known, as is its reputation for Southern charm and hospitality. The city prides itself as the "Hostess City of the South". Savannah's downtown area is the largest National Historic Landmark District in the United States. Savannah is also noted for its St. Patrick's Day celebration, the second largest in the United States behind New York City.

History

Around 3500 BC, the Bilbo inhabited the area now known as Savannah. Thousands of years later, the Yamacraws settled here and in the 18th century AD under their leader Tomochici, they met the new arrivals. In November of 1732, the ship Anne sailed from Britain carrying 114 colonists, including General James Oglethorpe. On February 12, 1733, Oglethorpe and his settlers landed at Yamacraw Bluff and, in an example of some of the earliest "Southern hospitality", were greeted by Tomochici, the Yamacraws, and John and Mary Musgrove, Indian traders.

The city of Savannah was founded on that date, along with the colony of Georgia. Because of the friendship between Oglethorpe and Tomochici, Savannah was able to flourish unhindered by the warfare that marked the beginnings of many early American colonies. According to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary (with etymologies), the name "Savannah" means "Shawnee"; it derives from a Muskoghean Indian word—a variant of the native name of the Shawnees.

Savannah was the first planned city in America. Oglethorpe's Savannah Plan consisted of a series of wards built around central squares, with trust lots on the east and west sides of the squares for public buildings and churches, and tithing lots for the colonists' private homes on the north and south sites of the squares.

In 1738, Jews from Spain and Portugal arrived in Savannah. Over the next century and a half the city welcomed other non-British immigrants, and Savannah remains to this day one of the most cosmopolitan and diverse cities in the South.

During the American Revolutionary War, Savannah came under British and Loyalist control in 1778. At the Siege of Savannah in 1779, American and French troops (the latter including a company of free blacks from Haiti) fought unsuccessfully to retake the city.

In 1818 shipping and business stopped when the city fell under quarantine due to a yellow fever epidemic. Many ships never came back to Savannah, dealing a harsh blow to the local cotton industry.

In 1864, the city was captured by Northern troops led by General Sherman.

In the 1930's and 40's many of the distinguished buildings in the historic district were demolished to create parking lots. Squares had been bisected by streets and fire lanes to speed traffic flow. The demolition of the 1870 City Market on Ellis Square and the attempted demolition of the 1821 Davenport House prompted seven Georgia women, led by Davenport descendant Lucy Barrow McIntire, to create the Historic Savannah Foundation, which was able to preserve the city from destruction. In 1979, the Savannah College of Art and Design was founded, and began a process of renovation and adaptive reuse of many notable downtown buildings, rather than building a centralized campus. This effort, along with the work of the Historic Savannah Foundation and other preservation groups, has contributed greatly to Savannah's now-famous rebirth.

Tourist destination

The city's popularity as a tourist destination was solidified by the best-selling book and subsequent movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which were set in Savannah.

The city's location offers visitors access to the coastal islands and the Savannah Riverfront, both popular tourist destinations. Tybee Island, formerly known as "Savannah Beach", is the site of the Tybee Island Light Station, the first lighthouse on the southern Atlantic coast. Other picturesque towns adjacent to Savannah include the shrimping village of Thunderbolt and two residential areas that began as summer resort communities for Savannahians: Beaulieu and Vernonburg.

Points of interest

Riverfront Plaza and Factors' Walk—River Street's restored nineteenth-century cotton warehouses and passageways include shops, bars and restaurants

City Market—Savannah's restored central market features antiques, souvenirs, small eateries, as well as two large outdoor plazas

Historic homes
The Pink House, Juliette Gordon Low birthplace, Owens-Thomas house, Wormsloe plantation

Historic houses of worship—Trinity United Methodist Church (circa 1848), Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, Christ Episcopal Church, First African Baptist Church, Independent Presbyterian Church, Lutheran Church of the Ascension, Temple Mickve Israel

Historic cemeteries
Colonial Park Cemetery (an early graveyard dating back to the English colony of Georgia), Laurel Grove Cemetery (with the graves of many Confederate soldiers and African American slaves) and Bonaventure Cemetery (a former plantation and the final resting place for some illustrious Savannahians)

Historic forts
Fort Jackson (near the historic district) and Fort Pulaski National Monument (17 miles east of Savannah via the Islands Expressway), both important in the Civil War

The squares

Savannah's historic district has 24 squares :

* Calhoun Square
* Chatham Square
* Chippewa Square
* Columbia Square
* Crawford Square
* Elbert Square
* Ellis Square
* Franklin Square
* Greene Square
* Johnson Square
* Lafayette Square
* Liberty Square
* Madison Square
* Monterey Square
* Ogelthorpe Square
* Orleans Square
* Pulaski Square
* Reynolds Square
* Telfair Square
* Troup Square
* Warren Square
* Washington Square
* Whitefield Square
* Wright Square

The squares vary in size and personality, from the formal fountain and monuments of the largest, Johnson, to the playgrounds of the smallest, Crawford. Elbert, Ellis, and Liberty Squares are classified as the "lost squares," destroyed due to development in the 1950's. Elbert and Liberty Squares were paved over to make way for an extension of Interstate 16, while Ellis Square was demolished to build the City Market parking garage. Separate efforts are under way to revive each of the three lost squares. The city is currently preparing to raze the City Market parking garage in order to build a new parking facility underground, with a new park on the street level.

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