Home     Site Map     Historic Downtown       Tybee Island       Hilton Head SC        Beaufort  SC     Bluffton SC
    How Savannah is changing.

Savannah was founded in 1733 by General James Oglethorpe. He had a plan for the city that was based on Venice, Italy with it's piazzas, thus our park-like squares, every other block, throughout the historic district.

A number of famous architects, designed and built homes here in Savannah, for some of the merchants and businessmen who got very rich trading cotton and other commodities between the new world and the old. So anyone interested in architecture could find much to study in a relatively small area.

One reason for the abundance of rare antebellum homes and buildings in Savannah is the fact that the town was not destroyed by General Sherman in his march from Atlanta. My understanding is that, in a very Savannah style deal, the local merchants convinced the General to offer Savannah to President Lincoln as a Christmas gift. I also understand that a large quantity of cotton and gold changed hands as well.

Because Savannah sits in a  little corner of the state it has been pretty much ignored for the last 120 years or so until two things happened. First, The Savannah College of Art and Design began to grow and spread throughout the Historic District. They have renovated buildings for offices and classrooms and at the same time have brought thousands of little renters and spenders-of-money downtown.

The other life-changing event for our city was "The Book". In "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" John Berendt painted a picture of a bizarre and beautiful and steamy and sordidly interesting little city that suddenly everyone in the U.S and around the world wanted to see. This began the rolling of a snowball that is still noticibly growing every year.
 

Back to site map

 

     

Accommodations

  
 

 Useful Information

 
 

Things To Do

 
 

Site owned and operated by CSA Media       Copyright 1999-2006