Savannah Overview

Southern charm and hospitality characterize this historic town filled with great restaurants, unique shops and legendary stories. Spared during the U.S. Civil War, Savannah has retained the beauty of its past, evolving into a cultural playground.

Districts

Savannah’s enduring charm is a direct result of the city’s respect for its past. Nowhere is this more evident that in the many small neighborhoods, which often seem more like pictures from a storybook than the corners of a 21st century city. With no skyscrapers, few modern-looking structures, and the shopping malls placed mercifully, inconveniently on the periphery of town, this burg of 150,000 souls keeps the soul of the Old South alive for residents and guests alike.

Historic District--This two-and-half square mile district serves as the functional heart of Savannah, and the historic status is not self-decreed. Bordered by the Savannah River to the north, Montgomery Street to the west, Price Street to the east, and Forsythe Park to the south, this area represents one of the largest National Historic Landmarks in the nation. Here is where you’ll find the picturesque civic squares—23 of them—that make Savannah famous as well as street after tree-lined street of ancient churches, monuments and museums, including the Telfair, which now houses the famous “Bird Girl” statue featured on the cover of John Berendt’s “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.”

The historic district includes the festive shops and restaurants of River Street at its northern extremity, as well as the stately businesses and churches that line Bay Street on the palisade above. Here, at the terminus of Bull Street, sits the golden dome of Savannah City Hall, the site where General James Oglethorpe first set foot on Georgia clay. As you wander south, you’ll pass the verdant city squares that have played host to such Hollywood notables as Forrest Gump and Kevin Spacey’s Jim Williams. As you move farther south through the oldest part of the city, you’ll discover more than 2300 historic buildings—about 80 percent of which have been restored—representing architectural influences that range from Federal to Italianate, Regency to Victorian. Among the notable residences are the family estates of singer-songwriter Johnny Mercer, and Girl Scouts founder Juliette Gordon Low.

The historic district is also home to many of the city’s seasonal festivals, the Savannah College of Art and Design, and a good number of Savannah’s most revered restaurants and inns. Favorites include the ritzy Ballastone Inn, a former bordello that dates to 1838, the distinctively Victorian Gastonian and the more reasonably-priced Mulberry Inn, the nicest Holiday Inn you are likely to find.

Riverfront--As suggested by the name, this area runs along the length of the Savannah River, the city’s northern border. Once the nerve center of Savannah’s booming cotton trade, the neighborhood began to deteriorate after the yellow fever quarantine and subsequent depression of 1818. Abandoned for over a century, the riverfront was resurrected in 1977, as the sprawling brick warehouses and merchant buildings were transformed into a parade of shops, restaurants and art galleries.

Since then, the area has developed into the most popular destination for visitors, and maintains a festive atmosphere that lasts well into the night. Such popular restaurants as Huey's, the lively Shrimp Factory and the elegant Chart House sit alongside quaint shops that peddle everything from nautical gear to kudzu soup mix. The cobblestone surface River Street also serves as ground zero for the city’s annual St. Patrick's Day Parade and celebration, and the monthly First Saturday Arts and Crafts Festival. If you’re looking to stay in the center of the action, book a room at the extravagant Hyatt Regency at the west end of the street, or try the more historic River Street Inn a bit farther east.

City Market--Once the bustling center of Savannah culture, commerce and gossip, City Market also sits on the river, a bit north of River Street at Jefferson and West Julian. Like River Street, the brick warehouses of this small area languished in disrepair after the death of King Cotton, but have been reclaimed by the city and now host droves of tourists. Shops, restaurants and some of the Savannah’s coolest clubs draw daily crowds, with frequent live music and performance artists lending a festive atmosphere to this busy corner of the city.

Victorian District--This 50-block neighborhood is situated just south of the historic district, between Martin Luther King Boulevard and East Broad Street. Also listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this area represented the first suburb of Savannah as the city spread out in the late 1800s. Largely residential, the neighborhood features examples of many architectural styles, with an unsurprising abundance of Victorian structures.

Midtown--Midtown is a large area that incorporates the Victorian District and points south as far as DeRenne Avenue. As the neighborhood progresses southward along Abercorn Street, the residences become more modern, businesses appear, and the charm of old Savannah fades rapidly. One exception, however, is the tiny town of Thunderbolt, a quaint fishing village just to the east on the Wilmington River. Midtown is home to much of Savannah’s medical community, as well as Armstrong Atlantic State University and Savannah State University. Sports fans will want to visit Grayson Stadium, home to the city’s minor league baseball team, the Savannah Sand Gnats.

Southsied--It’s hard to say where Midtown ends and Southside begins, but DeRenne Avenue is considered a fair mark. This is where the suburban sprawl of the 1950s and 1960s really hit, as evidenced by the uninspiring residential neighborhoods intermingled with countless strip malls, fast food joints, and car dealerships. Hunter Army Airfield, from whose enormous runway the US Army deploys servicemen worldwide, anchors the area.

Savannah's Islands--The low country surrounding the city harbors many small islands, including the residential boom areas of Wilmington and Whitemarsh, and the touchingly quaint Isle of Hope, whose antebellum homes and verdant lawns are the stuff of Dixie dreams. Nearby, Skidaway Island is the site of golfing communities, marinas, and miles of biking and nature trails. Skidaway is also home to the Wormsloe Historic Site, a comprehensive colonial settlement restoration.

Savannah’s seaside playground, however, is Tybee. Just 15 miles east of downtown past Fort Pulaski National Monument, Tybee Island features a wonderland of crab shacks, expensive condos, party hotels and cheesy gift shops, as well as the oldest lighthouse on the South Atlantic seaboard.

Historical Background

Savannah owes much of her character, style, and in fact her very existence to a British general and Member of Parliament named James Edward Oglethorpe. Concerned with the plight of debtors in his home country, Oglethorpe proposed to found a new colony in America, where debtors could pay off their debts by farming for the crown. A charter was granted to a group of trustees to create this new colony, christened Georgia in honor of King George II. While the altruistic aim of debtors' relief was a consideration, a more compelling motivation for the crown was the creation of a buffer against Spain's colonizing efforts in Florida, providing defense for British colonies in the Carolinas.

On February 12, 1733, General Oglethorpe and 120 colonists landed on the Yamacraw Bluff overlooking the Savannah River, on the spot where City Hall now stands. He named the town Savannah after the river, which was likely an Anglo-corruption of Shawnee, a tribe of the region. The settlement would become the thirteenth and final colony in America, and serve as Georgia's capital until 1786.

Over the next 10 years, Oglethorpe would make significant contributions to the new colony. He was responsible for laying out Savannah's design, a checkered system of streets interspersed with public greens. Today, 23 of the original squares survive in the Historic District. Oglethorpe also managed to secure the cooperation of the natives, largely due to the efforts of the Creek leader Tomochichi, thus avoiding the bloodshed that plagued many American colonies.

The agricultural vision of the colony, however, quickly failed, as the sticky climate proved too harsh for the coveted crops of silk and grapes. Through diligent horticultural experiments, it was learned that cotton fared much better, and agricultural efforts rapidly turned in this direction.

War and White God--The next century was one of growth and prosperity for the new Georgians. In 1742, General Oglethorpe defeated the Spanish at the Battle of Bloody Marsh, effectively ending the threat of northward Spanish expansion. As the city continued to grow, the British crown took an increasing interest in its agricultural potential, and in 1752 took over the original charter. Rice was soon introduced as a cash crop, further bolstering Savannah's economic strength.

Savannah played a relatively insignificant role in the American Revolution. Revolutionary forces mounted an unsuccessful siege of the British-held city in 1779, but business continued relatively unhampered. The end of the war however, yielded a dramatic impact. The new republic permitted slavery, a significant economic boon for agriculture, and Savannah embraced this new workforce and prospered like never before.

The most profound economic boost, however, was the brainchild of a local plantation tutor named Eli Whitney. In 1793, Whitney developed the cotton gin, a device for separating the seeds of the plant from the fiber, greatly simplifying the processing of cotton. The cotton industry exploded under the new advancement, and within a few years, the Savannah Cotton Exchange was setting the price on the world market.

Rice and timber continued as profitable exports, but by the 19th Century, cotton was king. The city flourished as wealth poured into the bustling town as cotton poured out of the busy seaport. Mansions sprang up, and merchants filled their drawing rooms with the finest of goods and distinguished visitors from around the globe. River Street was the center of it all, with warehouses and docks moving more cotton than any other port on the American seaboard.

Prosperity soared until 1818, when the cotton market bottomed out and an epidemic of yellow fever struck. A prolonged quarantine required traders to seek alternative ports, and after the quarantine, many never returned. To revive trade, a partnership of local businessmen financed the first transatlantic steamer, the SS Savannah, which sailed for England in 1819. By the 1850s, the city had recovered, exporting chiefly rice, tobacco, and of course, cotton.

The Big Little War--Savannah's role in the Civil War ended almost before it began. In 1862, Union forces on Tybee Island subdued Fort Pulaski, closing the city's port and thus beginning and ending Savannah's effectual involvement. The Confederacy managed to hold the city, but to little effect. In 1864, Savannah surrendered without a fight to Union General William Tecumseh Sherman, thus ending his notorious "bloody march to the sea." In a rare display of magnanimity, Sherman spared the city, presenting it to Abraham Lincoln as a Christmas present. After the war, Savannah's intact infrastructure allowed the city to quickly return to economic and cultural prominence.

The 20th Century--The dawning of the new century was not kind to Savannah; the city's economy collapsed along with the cotton market in the 1920s. As suburban sprawl expanded during the next three decades, the downtown area deteriorated, and many architectural and historical landmarks fell into disrepair or were destroyed. Despite a minor revival as a shipbuilding center during WWII, the city continued to falter. By the 1950s, the old City Market had been demolished, and there was even talk of paving over the distinctive public squares.

The scheduled demolition of the Davenport House (324 East State Street) in 1955, however, was the last straw. Just hours before demolition, the hastily formed Historic Savannah Foundation stayed the wrecking ball, beginning a pattern of revitalization that continues to this day. In 1966, a large section of the downtown area was designated a Historic Landmark District, and in 1977, the River Street Urban Renewal Project unveiled a $7 million renovation of the waterfront. Today, visitors flock to the more than 100 restaurants, inns, shops and galleries occupy the ancient warehouses that line the river.

Savannah continues to draw visitors from around the world as the city pushes forward with new attractions and old renovations. John Berendt's 1994 novel, "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," has drawn increasing tourism to the city, and in 1996, Savannah played host to the Centennial Olympic Games' yachting events. Today, this quaint river city is once again the largest foreign commerce port in the Southeast, a town with a bright future still enamored of its history.

Savannah by the Numbers

Population: 307,995
Elevation: 49 feet
Average Annual Precipitation: 49.7 inches
Average January Temperature: 49.2 degrees F
Average July Temperature: 81.2 degrees F
Major Industries: textiles, timber, agriculture (cotton, corn, peanuts, soybeans), tourism
Ethnic Mix: 61% Caucasian, 35% African American, 1.8% Hispanic, 1.5% Asian
Electricity: 110 volts, 60Hz, standard two pin plugs
Time Zone: GMT-5
Country Dialing Code: 1
Area Code: 912 (1 and the area code must be dialed even for local calls)

Did You Know?

Known to be America's first planned city, Savannah was voted one of the "World's Top Ten Trendy Travel Hot Spots" by the New York Times and was a "Top 10 U.S. City to Visit" in Conde Nast Traveler. Savannah is also of interest to literary and musical aficionados as it is the home of Johnny Mercer, composer of "Skylark," and was the setting for "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," directed by Clint Eastwood.

Orientation

Savannah is located near the Atlantic Ocean at the border between Georgia and South Carolina. Atlanta lies 249 miles northwest, Jacksonville 141 miles south, Charleston ( SC ) 108 miles northeast, and Montgomery ( AL ) 321 miles west.