OurCoast.com :: Savannah City Guide

Blacks and Whites maintained separate lives. In 1878, the first public school for Blacks was established. In 1891, the first public college for Blacks was opened.

During the Spanish-American War of 1898, Savannah was a major port of embarkation. A bronze statue of a soldier, facing south at the end of Forsyth Park to repel invasion, recalls those days.

Savannah entered the new century optimistically. New industries were thriving, including the export of ships stores like rosin and lumber. After the first World War, King Cotton died, victim to the boll weevil that by the 1920's had destroyed half of Georgia's cotton. Thus came the bitter end of a delightful period.

Savannah was rescued from the failure of cotton and the subsequent national depression by the New Deal, some large industries, notably paper, and World War II. Fort Stewart with Hunter Field was established and with it Savannah's importance for the army grew. The mighty Eighth Air Force was founded here and the armed forces still play an important part in Savannah's economy.

Savannah's fame as a preserved and beautiful city owes much to the pioneering efforts of many Savannah women, among them Alida Harper Fowlkes, who saved the Pink House, Mrs. Marmaduke Floyd, who rescued the Pirates' House, and Margaret Thomas, who left the Richardson-Owens-Thomas House to the Telfair Academy. The first attempt at large-scale restoration was undertaken in 1945 by Mary Hillyer, wife of the president of the Savannah Gas Company, who convinced her husband to restore the company's holdings at Trustees' Garden. The financial and aesthetic success of her venture outwitted the skeptics.

In 1955, Anna C. Hunter and seven other society ladies saved the Davenport House from the wrecking ball, and the Historic Savannah Foundation and its successful "revolving fund" were born. Savannah, with the largest urban historic district in the country, has recognized that its beauty is a priceless and unique asset.

--Sojourn in Savannah

pre-1732 | 1733-1776 | 1776-1800 | 1800-1850 | 1850-1865 | 1865-1900 | 1900-1955