The Greyhound dropped me off in Savannah, Georgia, where I spent two days with a friend from college.
We had not seen each other for five years due to overlapping deployment schedules, but once reunited it felt like we hadn’t been apart for more than a day.
My friend was a History major in college, and she took no time telling me about the Hostess City of the South.
A recap:
General James Oglethorpe and 120 ship passengers landed in Savannah in February 1733. Georgia was America’s 13th and final English colony, and Savannah was its first city.
Upon arrival, Oglethorpe befriended the local Indian Chief, Tomochici. Due to their friendship, Savannah did not experience the warfare and hardships that plagued other American colonies.
Oglethorpe laid out the city in a series of grids with wide boulevards and leafy public squares. Twenty-two of the original 24 squares are still standing.
During the Civil War, the Union Army imposed strict sea blockades that destroyed Savannah’s economy. In December 1862, General Sherman and his soldiers began their “March to the Sea,” destroying Atlanta and other cities in Georgia. But upon arrival in Savannah, General Sherman was so taken by its beauty, that he could not destroy it. Instead, Sherman offered Savannah as a Christmas gift to President Abraham Lincoln in 1864.
After the Civil War, Savannah’s economy recovered. It was based on cotton and bolstered by the arrival of new industries like resin and lumber.
In the 1950’s, a group of women formed the Historic Savannah Foundation. The Foundation preserved many buildings, helping Savannah to become a tourist hotspot.
